Raven's Soul
by Missjo1988
Summary: Three year's after Raven Tail's supposed destruction, the guild prepares itself for war. Will the people of Fiore finally see the truth or will they be destroyed in the rubble? There are gay characters in this, but not everyone is gay. Sequel to Window to the Soul.
1. Chapter 1

_Authors Note_

 _Before anyone gets started, this story is a sequel story to Window to the Soul. Not only that, this story also display's gay relationships. If that is something that you are uncomfortable with, don't read._

 _If you're back from the first story, welcome back! I don't have a writing schedule with this one like I did last time, since I'm out of school, so updates will kind of be random throughout the week. At the moment, I do have another story that is long that is updating like this so it's not that big of a hassle._

 _Anyway on to the story_

* * *

Seasons came and seasons went…

Over the last 3 years Fairy Tail had experienced its share of changes. After the fall of Raven Tail, Master Makarov retired, giving Laxus the position of Guild Master. He would have been happy about it, if it hadn't come only weeks after the death of his father and brother.

But like everything, time heals wounds and now he could at least look back on that time knowing that Bickslow didn't hate him.

Changes had come to the guild in many ways. He was now married. Mira had become his wife almost a year after the tragedy. They tried not to talk about it. Lisanna was still a sore spot for her, but Mira did have a new distraction. Less than a week ago he had become a father. Mira brought their son into the world, and the boy was already being fawned over by the entire guild. Naming the boy after his grandfather was already setting the boy up for huge expectations, but the boy was both a Dreyar and a Strauss. He would do fine.

His life wasn't the only one that had changed, Freed married Laki after they discovered that they were having a baby as well. Freed was a horrible mess at the moment. Laki was still early into her pregnancy, but Freed was freaking out like the day had finally come.

Ever and Elfman also had a son, Goyle was now two years old and seemed to take up most of Ever's time. He could have never imagined her to be a dotting mom, but he swore that she was over bearing.

Today marked the day that Bickslow left the guild all those years ago. The parade was tonight and even though it was a time of celebration for the town, he could never get as excited as he used to get.

He sighed as Natsu called him back to his work. All he could do is live on. He owned that to Bickslow.

* * *

Far away a young woman with short pink hair looked down at her son. Gunner was almost 3 years old now. How the time had gone. Her son looked so much like his father, except for his purple eyes. It was a strange contrast to his short brown hair.

Right now he was trying to climb up a bookshelf in their home. She didn't have much time left. Warner was already waiting for her.

Her Uncle came around the corner and gave her a faint smile, before turning down to her son.

"He just grows like a weed." The man chuckled.

"Well he is a growing boy. Are you sure you have everything?" She asked warily. The last time she had left Gunner with him, her and her husband had come home to a mess.

"We'll be fine, won't we Gunner?" Her uncle looked back at the young boy who was now sitting on the floor, giggling as he looked at the pages of a book he had pulled out. She guessed it was his favorite picture book. "See he's good. Now run along. That husband of yours is waiting."

With a quick nod, she left the living room and headed outside. She found Warner out front, leaning against the side of the house. He gave her a smirk. "The boy will be fine." He said pulling himself away from the wall and pulling her into a kiss.

"That's not what I'm afraid off."

* * *

He had just finished getting back after a mission and turned to his partner. Vik laughed at his companion. Kitt was from Absolon, but the boy was a natural at water magic. His light blue hair was short, but it was in great contrast to his orange eyes, which were rather strange.

His brother had noticed how well they worked together and assigned them to be on the same team over a year ago.

Kitt gave him a smile as they entered the Parliament Building. He rather liked getting back from missions like this, even though he despised this place. And the reason why was walking towards him.

He glared at Edvin Knud. The rich boy that he once had a thing for in his younger years. Edvin didn't look at him, instead focusing only on Kitt. It had was no secret that the boy hated his friend.

"Is there anything you need? I need to get this to central command." He said rather irritated.

Edvin didn't speak, he only continued staring at Kitt.

Kitt let out a chuckle. "I know I'm nice to look at, but really you know staring is rude."

Edvin let out a slight grunt of annoyance. "Oh please, like I would flatter a peasant like yourself with my gaze."

"Then I would suggest that your eyes wonder elsewhere." Vik said, not looking at the red head.

Kitt just smiled. "Come on, we can't be late. See you later Edwin…"

The walked off as an angry Edvin yelled back his name at them, causing them to laugh as they walked toward central command.

"He just doesn't give up, now does he?" Kitt joked.

"That's my own fault. I was way too naïve when I was younger. Who would have thought he would be such a creep?" He said with a twinge of regret. His past self was almost fooled by Edvin's appearance, he wondered if the party all those years ago was a fluke, but now he knew the truth. Edvin was just a spoiled rich boy who took his first kiss and now just wanted sex from him. The boy had a fiancé for crying out loud and there was no way he would ever stoop that low.

"I could have seen that." Kitt said resting his arms behind his head as he walked.

He turned his eye over to his friend as they walked. "You just don't like people with money." He joked.

"Well for the most part, I'm not wrong am I. Selfishness tends to breed and spread amongst their types." The boy said still relaxed.

"Says the boy, who was raised in a mansion close to here." He said in a mocking tone.

Kitt shot him a glare. "It's not like it was my money. My mom just married the dude."

"I bet your step father is lovely." He joked.

Kitt let out a grumble under his breath and he couldn't help but laugh. "Come on, we're going to be late."

* * *

He sighed, kicking his feet up. It had been a long day and he just wanted it to be over. His eyes flashed over to the clock, it would be a while before Vik came home.

A hand landed on his shoulder making him jump.

"Really Remy? You know that it's me." Ivan said, annoyed.

He groaned. "I know, it's just been a long day." He tried to stretch but his arms felt like mush, he was getting too old of this.

"New recruits?" Ivan questioned. Sometimes he was glad that his husband could read his mind. It meant he didn't have to talk as much.

"Yeah, lucky you got the day off." He groaned out again as a migraine hit his head.

Ivan let out a chuckle. Their son was kind enough to give Ivan that day off for some odd reason. "Turn and I'll rub your back."

"Do I have to?" He feared even moving.

Ivan smirked. "I can always do it for you." And before he could say anything, Ivan had already turned him around and was rubbing his back. He let out a couple of gasps as the man found plenty of knots. "You really should stop over working yourself."

"It wouldn't have been so bad if you were there today." He said, leaning into the strong hands that were working on his back.

Ivan laughed. "Sorry, I had some business today. Lisanna wanted help getting the house ready for Bickslow. It is their anniversary tomorrow."

How could he forget? Lisanna and his son wanted to get married in the winter but it got snagged a little due to their departure. "I hope that means what I think it means."

Ivan gave him a happy nod. "Don't worry, I've already set up the room."

He smirked back. "You know if I wasn't so stiff I could go for a round."

Ivan gave him a perverted smile. "Who said you had to move?"

* * *

The Prime Minister moved back and forth, much to his annoyance. Couldn't the man just stay still?

The door came open and he watched as two young men came in, he recognized them instantly.

"Vik, Kitt, I see you've returned. What did you get?" He asked, glad to be free of Magnus's horrible pacing.

Vik gave him a smirk. "How about a complete blue print of his majesty's castle."

He smirked back. His little brother had grown so much over the past three years. "Were you seen?"

Kitt crossed his arms. "No, seems like they never changed their security systems. They still think that Raven Tail is dead."

"Magnus is there any way to double our budget. The day of reckoning his coming near and I want to ensure that there are no problems." He said turning to the man behind him.

The man glared at him for a second. "We have been over this Bickslow, your budget is set. I can try and get the military budget bill to pass, but it is kind of hard to do in a time of peace."

He made his way to the door, Kitt and Vik following him. "The days of peace will soon be coming to a close, remember that."

And with that he left. He felt a slight twitch from his covered eye. Due to Cetus, he had to wear an eye patch now. The demon had calmed for the most part, but it was rather excited for the days to come. It had been a long time since Cetus was able to spill blood and it really couldn't wait. Listening to the demon had started to numb his mind to certain things. Talks of war and corpses weren't as horrid as they once were.

"Bro, are you heading home?" Vik asked. He turned and nodded. "We're going to take off then." And with that he watched as the two parted.

It was no secret that his brother was gay, most of the people around here knew. He kind of wondered when Vik would realize that he had put him with Kitt for a reason. Also he liked annoying Edvin, which was always welcome.

His home wasn't far, being a guild master had its benefits. He had the largest home, even if he really didn't need it, but Lisanna loved it.

As he opened the door, he could smell dinner and found himself getting excited, he had the day off tomorrow, all of the guild and Magnus knew not to disturb him.

He took off his black leather jacket and fell down on the couch, almost closing his good eye and falling asleep.

"Da…" he felt a small hand grabbing at his pant leg. His eyes flashed open immediately as he looked down at his daughter. She was trying to talk.

"Lis!" He yelled into the rest of the house.

"What? I'm busy." She yelled back.

"Xenia's trying to talk!" He yelled again, only this time he could hear the stove getting turned off and his wife rustling out of the kitchen.

She burst into the living room in seconds. "What is she trying to say?" She inched down next to him, as he scooted over on the couch.

"I think she's going for dad." He said rather excitedly.

Both of their eyes looked back down at the baby girl that was now playing on the floor and they waited.

It had been less than a year ago, that they had had their daughter. Xenia looked like her mother. Except she had his eyes. She was definitely a Resus baby.

After about ten minutes had passed and they heard nothing, Lisanna sighed. "I really need to get dinner finished. Call me if she starts again." And he smiled as his wife left. Her hair had grown out a bit now going down her to her shoulder. She often braided it.

His eyes went back down to the child on the floor. He had never thought about being a father until…well until it happened. She was a surprise that he never really knew that he wanted until she got here. And he wasn't the only one. He swore his parents spoiled the crap out of her. He guessed that since they really didn't get to raise him or Vik that they were just eating up all of the time they got with her. That and they never thought they would live to see the day that they became grandparents.

"Dinners done." His wife's voice rang through the house.

He stood from the couch and scooped up his daughter, she giggled a bit in his arms.

Looking at his family, it almost made him want to forget about the oncoming war. To turn his back and let everyone have a happy life, but he just couldn't. It was no longer about him or how he felt. The war with Fiore would happen, whether it would be them or the King that struck first was still unknown, but it was coming.

Raven Tail had to finish what they had started, the truth would be revealed.

To Be Continued….

* * *

 _Authors Note_

 _So yes, this series had returned. As you can see so much happened in that three year time skip, this is kind of setting us up for the story. If you haven't guessed already after reading this, yes my avatar is an adult version of Xenia. Let's just say I had her in mind before I even wrote the first story. As I stated above this story is going to be updated once a week at random, I don't have a school schedule, but I do have a work and it changes weekly, so that's why there is no normal schedule._


	2. Chapter 2

This day had started out well for Lisanna. She had dropped off Xenia with her grandpas and was now finishing up some last minute shopping. Bickslow still had some things to go over at home. Her husband hated paper work and always waited until last minute to finish it. She hoped he had done it so he could be running around with her on their anniversary, but they would make up for it later.

As she passed a shop, she wondered what how her sister and brother were. How had they taken her death now that she was dead to the world again? Did they have families of their own now? Children? The oncoming war had shut them off. Hopefully when all was said and done, they could all go back to being a family.

She could imagine the Christmas and birthdays already, her daughter getting to play with her cousins. Laxus and her husband making stupid jokes, while Elfman got yelled at by his wife. Vik getting annoyed at Remy for fixing his shirt. Ivan and Makarov getting drunk and finally acting like father and son. And then there was her and Mira in the kitchen making dinner, which then would be followed by them all siting and eating together.

She shook her head. She had no time of silly dreams right now. She had to prepare. Ivan and her had talked about something and she just wanted it to be perfect.

* * *

Vik watched as Kitt lit a cigarette in the doorway of his apartment.

"You know if your landlord finds out about that he will kick you out." He joked as Kitt gave him a frown.

"Then it will be our little secret." The other boy huffed.

He smirked. "I don't see why you like those things. They smell terrible."

The other boy laughed. "Have you ever tried one?"

"Well no, but I don't know if I want to. They stink."

Instead of frowning, Kitt tossed him one. "Give it a go, trust me. It's better than you think."

He sighed. "Fine, pass me your lighter."

Rather than doing what he asked, Kitt walked over and lit it for him.

He took a breath, breathing in the smoke. His throat burned and he started to cough. "What..cough…the…hell. cough.."

Kitt started laughing, falling back onto his couch holding his sides.

He threw the cigarette down into the ashtray. "That wasn't..cough..funny."

Kitt just smiled up at him. "It takes a while to get used to it. Once you get used to it you'll understand."

He slide himself down on the couch next to his friend. "If you think I'm going to do that again you are sorely mistaken."

"Come on, Vik. Won't you do it for me?" The boy said jokingly.

He grumbled to himself. Kitt was getting on his nerves. "I said no."

"But, it's fun. Trust me." The slight disappointment in Kitts voice made his heart pang considerably. It was his own secret that he was developing a crush on his teammate.

He looked Kitt right in the eye. "Fine." Just as he hoped, Kitt's face brightened in seconds. Making his heart do backflips.

"You won't regret it." Kitt said passing him the cigarette that he had placed in the ashtray.

He grumbled something under his breath, but Kitt didn't seem to notice. Maybe, someday they could be more than friends, but he doubted it. Kitt was a womanizer at times. There was no way his friend would see him as anything more than just a friend.

He sighed taking the cigarette and relighting it. He did not want to explain this to his parents. Good thing he was staying here for the night, he didn't want to be woken up by the baby.

* * *

Remy was in bliss as he watched Xenia cross the carpet in their living room. Ivan was right next to him and both of them just watched her play in awe.

"I wonder what her first words will be." Ivan asked as she put the corner of a book in her mouth.

He felt himself chuckle as he stood and took the book from her. She seemed rather happy when she was held. "Da"

"I think it's going to be dad, with how much she says da." Watching her cuddle into his side.

Ivan laughed as she started to suck her thumb. "Yeah, I swear that both Lisanna and our son are going to be recording everything."

Remy felt himself smile. "We would have done the same if we were given the chance." Remy smelt the air, Ivan was cooking something. "What's in the oven?"

Ivan jumped up. "I almost forgot, I made bread!" The man ran frantically to the kitchen.

He chuckled down at Xenia. "You know your Papaw, is a silly man. But when you can understand you'll see why everyone loves him."

"Pa." She said while giggling.

That was different, she usually stuck with da. "So you got a new sound now?"

"Pa..Pa"

His eyes went wide, before he could think, he called out for Ivan. "Hey, Papaw get back in here!"

Ivan came right back. "Hold your horses, I just barely saved the bread. The bottom is burnt, but…" Remy placed his finger to his mouth.

"Look Xenia, Papaw came back."

The girl clapped her hands together. "Papa."

He watched Ivan blink twice before starting to cry. "That can't be."

"Bickslow is going to be pissed." Remy chuckled to himself.

"What do you mean, she said papa."

"Yeah, but she was referring to you." He said smugly.

"Papaw." She said this time stuffing her hand in her mouth.

Ivan was just frozen in shock, he just felt smug as he leaned in and kissed his nose. "Come on Papaw, Grandpa and Xenia are hungry.

* * *

Warner spotted smoke in the distance. Turning to his wife, he could already see a look of worry start to spread across her face.

This mission was not going to be easy, Bickslow was trusting them to go back into Fiore for something important.

Margret town was just up ahead, but the smoke did not look like a welcoming sight.

He had to wonder why Bickslow was sending him back to his old guild. What good would that do? Obba had been rather glad to see him leave, what was Bickslow's reasoning?

Carma put her hand on his shoulder. "I know it is hard, but Bickslow wanted to see if there was any information on your mother and Lamia Scale is the only place to find it."

He nodded at his wife. "I know, I just wish I didn't have to speak with the old hag in order to find it."

She giggled. "Yes, it would be like if I walked back into Mermaid Heel, but these are our orders."

"What if we are exposed?"

She touched the side of his face, giving him a small smile. "I remember having to travel cross country with a man who didn't worry about such things. He knew how to handle it…he still does."

He felt himself grin and he leaned down and kissed her. That time felt like ages ago. Back when he thought of his wife as a nuisance rather than a blessing. Back when he was a smoker and she was a drinker. Before Gunner was even a thought. "I love you."

She smiled up at him. "Good, I wouldn't be able to deal with you if you didn't"

* * *

Laxus waited in his office for his teams to report. Gajeel was getting him some information, he and Levy had joined the magic council. So far the information they had given him was golden.

The king was planning an attack soon on the border of Absolon. He was tired of waiting.

He heard a small knock on the door and was surprised to see his grandfather leaning in on his cane.

"What do I owe the honor, gramps?" He said jokingly to his grandfather.

The old man gave him a small smile. "I was just wondering how everything was going. Have you received any news?"

"Gajeel has yet to return, but soon we will have some news."

"Good. A full scale war is the last thing that Fiore needs. If the king goes through with this, many lives will be lost." He watched as the old man sat down before continuing. "The best thing we can do as a guild is try and set up a treaty with Absolon. It will keep the king at bay."

"I just wonder what reason he will try and sell to the people to get them to agree to a full scale war."

Makarov let out a chuckle. "He doesn't need a reason. All he has to do is get the council to agree and I bet they are already siding with him. No, it will be up to the individual guilds to stop a war from happening."

"I have already contacted the guilds in our alliance, within the next week we will be meeting in Hargeon so we can plan our next move."

His grandfather nodded. "I will look after the guild hall, who will be going with you?"

"Gray and Juvia will be sufficient. I asked every guild to bring two of their guild members with them. It looks less suspicious."

"Why not Freed and Evergreen?" His grandfather asked.

He sighed. "It will be close to impossible to remove Ever from her baby and Freed won't leave Laki for a second. This is for the best really. Leon from Lamia Scale will most likely be there. So it would make sense for them to go."

Makarov nodded. "Have you told Mira about this?"

"Yes, she knows. All she wants is revenge for Lisanna, but the best thing for her right now is to stay here with Maky."

His grandfather smiled at the name. "Speaking of Maky, when do I get to hold my Great-Grandson?"

* * *

Finally, his paperwork was done. If his father had told him that there was this much paperwork that a guild master had to do, he would have refused the position.

He was glad because he could smell the dinner that Lisanna was planning from down the hall.

He stood and walked to the kitchen, leaning in the doorway and watched her work. She didn't even notice his presence, which made come up with an idea.

He stocked forward, creeping up behind her and snagging her around the waist. She let out a small shriek, as he started to laugh.

"Bickslow, that wasn't very funny!" She said turning in his arms and smacking him on his chest.

He continued to laugh. "I think it was." He said leaning down to her ear and giving it a playful nibble.

Finally, she laughed. "None of that now mister, wait until after dinner." She shifted around to mess with the food that was cooking on the stove, so mash potatoes.

"But I'm hungry now." He whispered in her ear.

She shivered, "Well you have to wait."

"Who said anything about eating? You look good enough right now." He said leaning into her neck, only to have her push him away.

"Later Bickslow. You know if you had gotten that paperwork done earlier we could have just done that all day." She said throwing his laziness back in his face.

"It's not my fault that there is so much of it."

She giggled. "You wouldn't have so much if you did it every day like you're supposed to."

"But where is the fun in that?" He said moving away from her and taking a seat at the small table they had in the kitchen. It would be enough for them tonight. The large one in there dining room was only used for holidays.

He watched as she finished cooking. He already knew what it was, a favorite of his. Absolon had different cuisine from Fiore and when they first started living in this house, the prime minister's wife had sent over something that they didn't expect to become their favorite thing, heck it was now a holiday meal as well. Haggis stank to high heaven, but they loved it.

They both sat down and ate talking about some changes that were soon to come. A war was incoming and they both knew it.

As they finished their meal, Bickslow stood and threw his wife over his shoulder. Instead of getting angry Lisanna let out a couple of giggles.

"Come on, time for some fun." He said with excitement.

"I know, I know." She giggled as he took her up to their bedroom.

He threw her down on the bed and began to work on her clothes, in a rush. Kissing the side of her neck and listening to the sounds she was making in his arms. He was about to open a drawer at by the side of, but she stopped him. Looking him dead in the eye. "Bickslow, we don't need that tonight….I want another baby."

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _Sorry about the lack of updates. I'm getting ready to move in a couple of months for school, plus I've had some personal problems I had to get to before writing. So what do you guys think of the beginning of this story. Your thoughts are always welcome._


	3. Chapter 3

Kitt let out a chuckle, as they sat at the bar. Both of them now smoking. Somehow Kitt had conviced him to leave the apartment for the night and go drinking. They weren't old enough, but Kitt knew plenty of people.

Vik watched as the other boy spoke with two girls. Both of them giggling with him. He just rolled his eyes, before getting up and leaving. He didn't need to watch this. He was tired of watching this.

As he walked outside, almost stumbling over his own feet, he knew that Kitts apartment would be noisy tonight. So it was either be woken up by Xenia or listen to that all night. The former was sounding better right now.

It was too much to listen to Kitt do those things with women sometimes. Especially with how he was starting to feel for his partner. He sighed. That would never happen. Kitt was straight and he was gay. It would never work.

"Lovers quarrel?" Said a familiar voice. Edvin was sitting on the top of the stairs to the Parliament building, why had he walked this way and why had fate put him in front of the last person he would want to see.

"How can it be a lover's quarrel when we aren't lovers?" He spat at the other boy. Only to see the other smile at his words.

"So you're available then?" Edvin said with a glint in his eye. Almost like a cobra stocking its prey. Even though he knew to stay away from the other boy, he was still beautiful to look at.

"Not to you." He said, but not with as much conviction as he liked, his words almost slurring due to the alcohol.

Edvin stepped down off of the steps and closer to him, taking his hand and sliding it slowly down his face before whispering in his ear. "And why not?"

He shivered against his better judgement. Looking up into the snakes eyes. "Because you have a fiancé." It was the only reason he could think up in this state. What the other boy was tempting him with was far too enticing.

"What of her? It was never my decision. My mother picked her for me before I was born." Edvin whispered, trailing his lip down his ear. He let out a groan. "I've never been attracted to her in the same way I am to you."

With that he didn't care as he grabbed the other boy's jacket and pulled him into a kiss. Edvin pulled him closer, trying to get him to open his mouth. He did and instead rushed forth to claim his prize, as Edvin moaned against him rocking his hips against his.

His face rolled back as he let out a gasp and Edvin chuckled. "I've waited to have you Viktor. I want you. Can we?" The boy said as he started on his neck.

His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. Edvin may be an ass, but he wanted him. He could never have Kitt, so why couldn't he at least sleep with Edvin. But he wasn't thinking clearly, he was too drunk, he couldn't make this decision like this, could he?

He froze as he pulled Edvin off of him. The boy looked disappointed. He blushed. "We can't do this."

Edvin touched the side of his face. "Yes, we can. Even if you taste like alcohol, I don't mind. I had a little earlier myself. " Without another word he was leaning down and kissing him again. The jolts from Edvin's touches were sending waves of pleasure down his spine. Could he do this? He wanted this, why not give in a little?

"Can we at least work up to that?" He asked. Seeing delight in the other boy's features.

"Of course, why don't we just make out tonight? Just like we did all of those years ago." Edvin said now kissing at his neck.

He gasped. "I was thinking going a little farther than that." His mind was going fuzzy as the other boy expressed his delight by biting down on his neck.

"What do you want? We can do anything you want." Edvin said taking his hand in his. Ready to lead him away.

His eyes were locked with those beautiful green ones. "Why don't we cross that bridge when we get there?"

Edvin smiled and led him up the stairs. Maybe he would regret this come morning, but right now he didn't care. He just wanted something for once and he was going to get it.

* * *

Kitt sighed putting out his cigarette in his apartment. He thought that Vik would have come back here, but it seems that he headed home.

Maybe hanging out with those girls was a wrong move, but he wanted Vik to relax a little. He always seemed so stiff for some reason. Last thing he wanted to do was alienate him. First thing in the morning he would apologize.

He walked into the guest room and was surprised to find Vik's bag was still there. Sure, he could just have went home, but that meant that Vik never came back to the apartment afterward. Was he really that mad?

Now he knew he would have to do double the apologizing. He always wondered why Vik was always mad about him flirting with girls. Heck, Vik never even looked at girls. Not in the way most guys their age did.

His mind froze. No. That…it can't. No. It made sense his parents were. NO. Vik was. No. But it made sense why Vik always had problems with Edvin Knud. Vik had always said he was too naïve when it came to Edvin, but he never once questioned it. He figured that they had just had a bad time as kids and Edvin being the snake that he is tricked him. Not..not that. If Vik was gay then how did he feel about Edvin now? Was he still attracted to the creep or had he moved on?

Maybe in time Vik would tell him. It wouldn't bother him is he was gay, but there was no way he was letting Edvin mess around with him. That boy was bad news.

But was it fair for him to mess around in Vik's love life. If he wanted to be with a guy, he really had no say in the matter.

He sighed again as the door opened and Vik walked in looking like he had just rolled out of bed. He couldn't help but stare at him. What had he been doing?

"You're still up?" Vik asked confused as to why he was still awake. That was a good question it was early in the morning, but the sun was still down.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep." It seemed like the best excuse. He didn't want Vik to think he was waiting up for him.

Vik walked up to the fridge. "So where are your girlfriends at?" The boy didn't look too interested in them, he instead looked rather annoyed.

"Dina and Hannah? I left them at the bar." This was just casual conversation at this point, be it an awkward conversation.

"Oh." He watched as Vik took one of his beers out of the fridge, they weren't old enough to drink but he knew a fair amount of people that would just give it to him.

"Yeah, I'm sorry if you thought they were coming back here. I wasn't really in the mood after you left." He figured apologizing now would be best, Vik would start talking normal again.

The boy just took a swig of his beer and said nothing. "You didn't have to stop for my benefit."

"Where did you go anyway?"

Vik sighed. "Just visiting an old friend." What did that mean?

It shouldn't have bothered him either way, but it did.

"Anyone I know." He decided ask, even though he already knew.

Vik seemed to just stare off into space, as if he would rather not speak about what had just happened.

"Anyway, I'm going to bed before the sun comes up. I think my brother has some plans he wants to go over." Vik said turning his back to him and exiting to the spare bedroom.

He sighed as he fell back against the couch, what business was it of his if Vik wanted to be with a guy. It didn't matter to him at all, but even as he tried to tell that to himself he felt a strange ache that was ever present in his chest. Even after feeling it, he chose to ignore it. What good would come from reacting to some out of place emotions? It would just mess up their friendship.

* * *

The sun was just coming up as Laxus readied himself for his trip. Grey and Juvia weren't his first picks for companions, but they were better company then most. Grey usually kept to himself and his girlfriend never really lookied at anyone but her boyfriend. Making this just look like a trip to plan a wedding was far too easy.

They were going to be headed out soon and that was the plan. Not that it wouldn't look suspicious with the other guilds showing up, but Grey and Juvia had a lot of friends outside of the guild. It wouldn't be too surprising for all of the guilds to meet under those circumstances.

He heard a small knock on the door, Mira had gotten up before he had. "What time are you heading out?" She asked as he buttoned up his shirt.

"Around ten, but before that I have to debrief the others while I'm gone." He said finishing up his shirt.

"Is Master Makarov staying until after you return?" She asked, he could see that she was wary of all of this.

"Yes, I trust him with everything while I'm away." He walked over and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I'm leaving both you and Maky in the best hands."

"Just promise me that you will come back." She said looking up at him.

He chuckled. "Mira, I'm not going on any crazy missions. This is just a coalition to get a treaty made."

"I know but something just doesn't seem right about this. Please, watch your back. I know that we are allies with those guilds, but how many of them are truly on our side?" He hated to admit that she was right. While he would never question the likes of Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale, it was hard to trust others like Mermaid Heel. Mermaid Heel seemed the least outraged over the attack against Raven Tail 3 years ago, even though one of their former guild members was killed.

"Don't worry, I'll have Grey and Juvia there." This didn't seem to get her to calm down though, he really couldn't blame her. After losing Lisanna for a second time, he didn't think that she could handle losing someone else. With that he lifted her chin and looked down at her. "I will be back."

She gave him a small smile. "I know. Just come back in one piece."

With that he gave her a kiss and finished getting ready. The train ride would be long and he had much to discuss with the guild.

* * *

Warner sighed. It had been a long time since he had walked through Margret Town. Everything looked different, even though it had only been 5 years since then.

"Calm yourself." His wife said at his side. He wanted to, but it was kind of hard. He hadn't been at Lamia Scale in all of those years. Would anyone remember him? He didn't exactly leave on good terms.

As they reached the guild hall, he took a deep breath, hopefully they didn't know about his involvement with Raven Tail. That would make things awkward and it was not yet time for their reveal.

Instead of waiting like he wanted, Carma went ahead and opened the door for him. Eyes turned to see him standing there in the doorway. Many a face going pale.

He stepped forward as his old guild master pushed through the crowd. He figured he was in for a big long speech about timing and coming uninvited.

To his surprise Babasaama looked over him with tears in her eyes. "You're alive…how can this be?"

He was startled. If they thought him dead than they had some inkling of what he had been doing during the last 5 or so years. "That would be a long story."

She started to lead him away from the crowd. "Then I expect to hear it." Just as they reached the steps, she turned around, addressing the whole guild. "Tell no one of this arrival. Understood. If this gets out, you will all be spinning! Got that!"

"Yes, Ma'am." The words echoed through the guild hall.

Maybe Bickslow was right, there were allies to them on this side. Now hopefully Babasaama knew something about his mother.

To Be Continued….

 _Authors Note_

 _So yeah, I know that a lot of people kind of liked Edvin/Vik from the previous fic and were disappointed at the ending to that. But I kind of planned this from the beginning. So Edvin/Vik/Kitt is a thing. Basically Edvin wants Vik, Vik want Kitt, and Kitt has no idea what he wants. Pick which one you prefer in the reviews. The first love or the best friend, which of them is better._

 _So Warner has made it back to his old guild, I wonder what Babasaama knows about Winoona's past and if she has any answers for Warner and Raven Tail._


	4. Chapter 4

Looking around Babasaama's office, he noted that nothing had really changed. It was still a messy collection of magical knickknacks that made no sense to him. Anytime someone brought up cleaning out her office, she would always threaten them with spinning or start talking about her youth, which always cleared the room. No one wanted to know about the old hags love affairs.

He found a dusty pile of chairs and pulled one out for himself and his wife, after she gave him an annoyed look for got grabbing her one and coming up and taking his.

He noted that his old guild master was watching his movements, she looked up at him from her desk in utter fascination.

"So now that you are seated, how did you survive?" The old woman asked, almost on the edge of her seat.

He was confused, did she know about his involvement with Raven Tail and not care? "First tell me why you thought I was dead." He crossed his arms as his wife let out a giggle.

Her eyes went sad. "Warner, I know about Raven Tail. After the guild's destruction, Laxus Dreyar came to me and told me of your involvement. At first I was angry. I thought that you had been misguided and that I has failed you. That was until Laxus told me what you are trying to uncover. Now that I know better, I can clearly see how all of the pieces fit together. I know what the King did to you, I just wish that you had trusted me more with this information." She looked away from him, down at the desk. "We mourned your loss. A grave stands for you in the cemetery down the road, as well."

Well that explained why the entire guild looked at him like he was a ghost. "I did not mean to make you worry. It was for the best. If you knew, you would be targeted."

She nodded. "Now please tell me, how are you still alive. King Fiore broadcasted the destruction of Raven Tail only hours after the guild was destroyed."

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Did everyone really think that that blast would have been enough to destroy us?" The old woman gave him a serious look and his smile disappeared. "I can't tell you the entire story. Most of it is classified within Raven Tail. We survived by chance and evacuated the guild hall before the blast."

"How did you know that the blast was coming?" She asked.

This time Carma spoke. "We have our ways of digging up information. We were a spy guild after all."

"Were?" The old hag asked, she looked very confused over Carma's words.

"Things change with time. We still have our sights set on getting information out to the masses, but dark times are coming. After everything that has happened there is no other way." He hated having to speak in riddles. She looked like she wanted more, but he couldn't give it to her. It was too dangerous. "I know you want answers, but I can't them to you now. I came here because I need answers from you."

He watched her expressions change, now she wasn't very happy at all. "And what makes you think that you'll get any answers out of me?"

"All I want to know is any information about a former member of this guild. Her name was Winoona Fertus."

As soon as his mother's name was said the old hag dropped her hand, her anger seemed to fade into complete sadness. "Why do you want to know about her? She passed away a long time ago."

"She had a connection to all of this. We were just wondering if she left any clues behind, just as Sasha Peter's of Phantom Lord did." Carma said.

Babasaama sighed. "You know that girl always had her head in the clouds. She was an expert shot before she could walk. I wasn't surprised when she passed her S-class test. Heck, she was only 12." The old woman looked like she was lost in an old dream, but he couldn't pinpoint why. "I remember going out behind the guild and watching her make modifications to her guns. She made so many different changes to her weapons that the magic council had to be called in to inspect them on more than one occasion. Always feisty that one, always ready for a fight, but smart enough to know when to back away." The woman continued on, as if looking off into the distance. "You know a lot of the stuff in this office used to be hers. She was always messing with stuff."

Without a word, he stood and started looking at some of the knickknacks around the room. What moments ago seemed like junk was now priceless to him. He could feel her eyes on him, but he didn't care. If these things belonged to his mother, he wanted to see more. His eyes fell on an old cabinet and without thinking, he started to open it, looking at the contents without permission.

"Be careful with that, it's old! Winoona used to send me random letters from time to time." The old woman giggled. "There is even a picture of her and her boyfriend in there somewhere, was his name Arthur, no Armin, no that's not it either."

He had never wanted anything more in his life. Remy and Ivan both said that his parents never dated, but his mother may have just said that they were together, so that she could send the picture out. He started sifting through papers without a word.

Babasaama stood on her chair, angry. "Excuse me, boy. But those are my things. You have no right to go through them!"

He ignored her. His mind was so intent on his task that he was almost in shock when he started spinning. She spun him back over to his seat, much to his annoyance. "What the hell was that for?"

"I told you to keep your grubby hands off of my things!" She said angrily.

"They aren't your things." He grumbled under his breath.

His wife cleared her throat. "Anyway, you seem to know a lot about Winoona, did she grow up here at the guild?"

The anger melted away from the old hags face. "You could say that. After he mother died in that accident, she was all I had. Now she's gone too and all I have left are things." Now he was confused, very confused.

"You were close to her mother?" Carma asked, with more interest.

"Well of course I was. She was my granddaughter so of course we were close. Why are you asking all of these personal questions when you have other matters to attend to?"

He was frozen to his seat, if he didn't know any better, he would have sworn that he stopped breathing. This couldn't be right. It just couldn't. There was no way that this woman was related to him. No way at all.

Right now she was look at him, waiting for an answer, but he didn't know how to. If she was related how would they even function? Everything now felt really awkward to him.

"Are you not going to answer me?" She said annoyed.

He stood up. "We're leaving." He couldn't face this, it was too much too soon. As much as he need information, he needed to wrap his head around this. All of his life, he had pushed away the idea of having a family. His parents and their parents were dead, so he didn't have anything to hold onto until Carma came around, well really when Gunner came around, but that wasn't after years of rejection. This woman, while kind to him in the past, also stirred up many bad memories as well. He just didn't know what to do.

"So you're running away again. That is typical of you Warner. Always running off when things don't go your way, I swear after everything I did for you as a child, you should be more grateful." The old hag said, rather annoyed. "If we are done, you may leave. Just don't come back and try asking me anything."

Carma gave him a look, he could see it in her eyes. She was asking him why he was okay with this. He would tell her later. "Then I guess this is it then, old hag. My wife and I will show ourselves out then. Carma." He motioned for his wife, but she looked so conflicted.

"Warner, are you sure you want to walk away from this?" She said, there was a sadness to her voice.

"You know as well as I do that it is for the better." With that she came to his side and made to leave. "I will not bother you anymore, just be warned that dark days are coming. What you see and hear is not going to be pretty."

The old hag nodded from her chair, but remained curious as they left out the door without another word.

* * *

She sat in her chair for a long time. What was that boy's deal? Why was he looking at her things like that? What was with that exit? Why was Winoona so important to Warner and why did his wife look so sad about them leaving? What did that Carma girl mean when she asked the boy if he was okay with leaving things be? It just didn't make sense. Heck, after how rude the boy was to her, how could she even care about his words now.

Maybe it was best to forget Warner. Not his final word to her, but just him. He would never return to Lamia Scale and he had no urge to really tell her anything. It was probably best to think him dead.

She wondered what Laxus would think of this information, Raven Tail was not dead after all. He would definitely find it interesting.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon before Lisanna and Bickslow came to pick up Xenia and because it was so late, Ivan told them that they had to stay for supper. He wasn't complaining. It was hard nowadays for them to get together. With all of the preparations for the upcoming war, they had little to no time to spend together as a family.

As Lisanna and Ivan worked in the kitchen, he and Bickslow sat in the living room with Xenia on the floor again.

"I can't believe that she said her first word for you two and it wasn't even me." Bickslow said flatly.

He chuckled. "I know you may not like it, but it made Ivan's day."

"I know." He grumbled.

"So are we now in the final stages?" He asked. It was kind of weird being on the outside of this. Sure, he still knew a lot, but Bickslow was in charge so he had even the dates down in his head.

"Pretty much, the first operation should start in about 2 months." He heard the boy sigh. He could easily make out what his boy was saying. They had planned for a war, but now that they were all settled it was kind of hard to go back to being uprooted again. Even if they had a score to settle.

He was about to speak, went the door burst open and two teenagers entered the house, high on sugar and caffeine.

"Vik, I told you to be home around 11 this morning. Where have you been?" He asked his youngest son.

"It's okay, Mr. R. Vik was just at my house." Kitt said from behind him.

"He was only supposed to spend the night." He said dryly.

Vik didn't look at him, instead rummaging through his pack trying to get his dirty clothes for the laundry. "Sorry dad, we didn't get much sleep last night, so I didn't wake up till late."

Now if that didn't set off alarms in his head, nothing would. When did this happen? Were the boy's even dating? He knew they couldn't get pregnant, but the idea of protection came to mind.

Looking over at his oldest, he could see the same questions going through his head.

"Kitt did you want to stay for dinner?" Bickslow asked before he could even say anything.

"Sure, what's on the menu?" The boy said plopping down on the couch.

He was still rattled, but this was something he could answer. "I think they're making a couple of Shepard's pies for dinner and a pecan pie for desert."

"Knowing Lis, there will be rolls and potatoes too." Bickslow said.

It became awkward in seconds as he looked over the other boy. Vik had run off to put his stuff in the washer. He could hear it start from down the hall.

Vik returned talking to himself. "Man, I got a headache. You're still here?" He asked his friend.

Kitt nodded. "They asked if I wanted to stay for supper."

"Oh. Do you want something to drink?" He had to commend himself for raising the boy to be polite. It was a huge difference from what he had been like before.

Kit jumped up from his chair. "What kind of ale do you have?"

That was not what he was expecting. "Now enough with the jok…"

"Didn't you have enough to drink last night?" Vik said over his him. Now this was a new development. Both of them were underage.

He was about to chastise his son's friend for drinking, but Kitt beat him this time. "You drank more than I did, Mister Hangover."

"What?!" Both boy's stopped in there bickering to stare at him. "The two of you are underage, what if something happened? Really how could you be so irresponsible?"

"Come on dad, nothing happened." Vik said, but his voice hitched a little. Something did happen, something his son didn't want to tell him.

"Viktor Resus, you will tell me everything that you did last night!" He said sternly.

"Dinner's ready!" Lisanna said bursting into the room. "Oh, is it a bad time?"

He was about to get angry, but then chuckled evilly to himself "No, we can all talk things out over dinner." He would get his answers, those boys would tell him everything.

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _For those that have read Window to the Soul, most of have, so this won't be a shock, I never gave Winoona's bio for this reason. It would have spoiled everything for the next fic. Looks like Vik and Kitt are in for a wild dinner at the Resus household, I hope they can handle it._

 _Just to let everyone know, this series is going to be updated twice next week. I have some extra time on my hands and thought I should give some more time into this series, at least for next week. One should be on Tues, while the other will be on Thurs. If an update is not up, check my profile as I will post up a reason there. The only reason would really be an emergency though, so expect chapters._


	5. Chapter 5

Vik didn't know what to expect as he sat down. He didn't like the look his father was giving Kitt, but didn't say anything.

Kitt on the other hand, looked rather oblivious to his father's gaze. Instead, he was complimenting the smell of the food.

To his right, Pops looked like he was trying to figure out what was on Dad's mind. He sure hoped he had all of this cleared up before he caught wind of what his father was pondering. He didn't need both of them going after him and Kitt.

"So, what did you boys do last night while Xenia was here?" He almost cursed Lisanna for her innocent question.

"Not much really." He lied. Well…it was not that much of a lie. He really didn't remember much, except meeting up with a certain red head.

"Oh, well that sounds boring." Lisanna lamented, dumping some potatoes on to her plate.

His father cleared his throat. "So Kitt, can you enlighten us to why you wanted alcohol earlier?" He could already see an evil gleam playing from across the table, waiting to strike.

"I know people around here, they just give me whatever. It's not like I over do it." Kitt said giving him a frown.

"I didn't even have that much." He said defensively.

"Yeah, yeah. Excuses, excuses." The other boy teased him. He really didn't need this right now.

"Vik, you really shouldn't have been drinking." His Papa said, now adding to the conversation.

"Again, I didn't have that much! It's not a big deal." He said trying to get them to change the subject.

"It is. You are far too young to be drinking and what if something happened. Remember we have connections with many high ranking officials. It would be wise to act accordingly." His father said crossing his arms.

"But nothing happened. Not a damn thing!" He was getting angry.

His father and brother gave him a confused look, but that didn't stop his father from commenting. "Still you shouldn't even try it."

He crossed his arms, annoyed. Not even touching his food.

"Maybe I should keep you from doing missions for a while. If you're going to be drinking. I can't have you getting drunk on the job." Bickslow teased.

"But I wasn't drunk on the job. I just had a couple of drinks at the bar, there's a difference!" The more they talked the more he just wanted to leave.

"That may be so, but you have to learn that there is a time and place for everything." Pops jumped in as well.

"If you all just want to sit here and attack me that's fine." He stood up from the table and left, running out the door and into the night. Hearing all of them yell after him.

He hated when they did that. Sure, they were joking, but still he didn't like being the butt of their jokes.

In his anger, he didn't see where he was going. Everything was jumbled as he passed street after street. Knowing his parents, they would start looking for him. He needed a way off of the streets. Somewhere out of their line of sight.

"I didn't expect you to be on this side of town." He heard the ever familiar voice of a certain red head behind him.

He didn't have time for Edvin's shit, he needed to get as far away as possible.

"You seem to have something on your mind. Can I offer you some help?" The boy said with a sexy smirk on his face.

He was going to smart off, as a light bulb went off in his head. He couldn't help but grin. "I think you can help me out. How much free time do you have?"

The other boy's grin grew as he offered him a hand. "I got all the time in the world, do you have something in mind?"

Stress, anger, annoyance, pain, rejection, and frustration. All those feelings at once combined as he took the other boys hand and leaned in close to his ear, whispering the words he thought he would never say. "Submit to me."

* * *

He got off the train with his companions in toe. Juvia did her job, clinging on to Gray's arm as they exited the station. Not that he really needed to tell her to do such things.

It wasn't far to their destination and from what he gathered on the train, 3 of the other guilds had already converged. Blue Pegasus, Mermaid Heel, and Sabretooth. Lamia Scale was still running behind, which was odd. Ooba was rarely late for anything. Maybe the train on her end was having some difficulties.

As he entered the building, he and the others were greeted by the other guild masters and their companions. Ichiya was flanked my Hikabi, while Sting sat there arguing with Rogue. The guild master Mermaid Heel, Asrai Adella sat alone. Her gaze like a deadly wave of destruction. Her brown ribbon like hair pulled back into a sever bun.

"You're late." She said flatly.

"Yes, there was a delay. I see that Babasaama is also running behind." He said turning his eyes to friendlier faces.

"I see you have brought the finest of parfums with you." Ichiya said taking Juvia's hand and trying to plant a kiss on it. He was given a fast punch in the face, slamming against the wall.

"Juvia's hand is only for Gray-sama, Gray-sama will think less of Juvia if you dirty her!" The woman said offended.

He face palmed, why did he think it was a good idea to bring Juvia with him again. Erza would have been a better choice, but she had gone on a job, plus it worked better with their excuse.

"Really if you have time to fool around, I'm leaving." A voice came from the door way and the old hag made her presence known.

"Good for you to have joined us, you old hag." Sting said, before regretting it immediately as he started spinning rapidly.

"I take that you had a snag like I did." He said respectively.

She gave him a knowing smile. "Unless you had an experience from beyond the grave, I highly doubt it."

What was she talking about? "No, I can't say I have."

"Look granny, spill what you're talking about. I don't have all day. We have a treaty to talk about." Asrai said seconds before she was left spinning at maximum speed.

He pulled out a chair for the elderly woman and she took a seat. All eyes fell on her and the words she had to say.

"Lamia Scale was visited this morning by a former member, Warner Brass." She said calmly.

He stopped breathing, a member of Raven Tail, but they were dead. The entire guild was destroyed. "How?"

She let out small laugh as she grabbed herself a cup of tea. "He and his wife came by, they were in search of some information. He wanted to know about my granddaughter for some odd reason. That and he seemed to speak in riddles."

"What do you think he was trying to say?" Ichiya said after finally recovering from his blunder earlier.

A sad look fell upon her face. "I feel our work for a treaty will fall on deaf ears. He kept saying that darkness was closing in. War is going to happen."

While he didn't like the sound of war, he was rather intrigued. "Did he say anything about the rest of the guild?"

She let out a snort. "Only that we were stupid enough to think that an etherion blast would be able to destroy them, apparently they had information beforehand. I don't know how they got out or what they are doing, but they did. But he wouldn't tell me anymore. Only to keep my eyes open. He seemed more interested in Winoona's things than anything."

"Well that makes sense considering what Master Bob thought years ago." Ichiya said sadly, speaking of his former guild master and friend.

Now the old hag looked confused. "What did Bob and yourself know that had to be kept from the rest of us?"

"I knew." Laxus said. "Bickslow was one of them. It matters on how far you're willing to look."

"Again with the riddles. You realize that it makes it hard to trust you with our guilds when you do that." Sting said finally out of his fit of dizziness.

Asrai gave him an angry look. "Listen we are here now, so let us in on the details."

He sighed. Looking to Gray and Juvia. "Can you and the others cover the perimeter?"

They nodded and motioned for the other's to follow. Hikabi and Rogue followed suit.

"Leon should be out there already." Ooba told them as they exited.

He looked over at Ichiya. It wasn't that he liked sharing this information. After everything that had happened, Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus decided to keep the information between the two of them, after all they were the most effected by the King's efforts 3 years ago. They both lost more than just guild mates. Pegasus lost more than a guild master, they lost a father, a teacher, and a friend in Bob. Fairy Tail lost friends and family, fathers and brothers, sisters and children. It had taken a toll on both guilds.

The other man gave him a nod and he sighed. "3 years ago we found out what Raven Tail was really doing, remember when we told you that.

"Enough with the small talk, tell us already!" Sting said impatiently,

"Raven Tail had a reason besides just uncovering the King's plans for war. They were out for revenge. The two guild masters of Raven Tail were my father Ivan Dreyar and his best friend Remy Resus. It was believed that Remy died over 20 years before then, but that was not the case. Remy Resus lived and Raven Tail was formed.

"Why did people think he was dead?" Sting asked, leaning back in his chair.

Ichiya slammed his hand on the table. "Because the King planned to kill him and his friends. The King succeeded in part of his plan. Four of Ivan and Remy's friends were killed, all so a man could try and control the nation to the north."

"But what did they do? They had to do something to get on his bad side." Asrai said smirking to herself.

"There crime was knowing too much. My father and Remy were spies for the King. Their job was to gather information about Absolon, but after they were no longer needed, he tried to see their end. The same goes for their friends. They were also hired to spy for Fiore." He could see all of them were quite shocked. "My father was hired because of his illusion skills, Remy could create shields and could speak telepathically with my father." This was it, it was time to reveal the names of the others. "From Phantom Lord they hired Sasha Peters, a word mage capable of decoding any code and solve any puzzle. Carolta Seabress of Mermaid Heel was used as an interrogator." He watched as Asrai froze up, he could guess where her mind was going. "The last two were Arlington Brass of Blue Pegasus, hired for his ability to dig up information." Ichiya nodded, but Ooba had a different look on her face.

"Brass?" He then remembered that Warner used his father's last name.

"Yes, he was Warner's father." He might as well tell her now.

"Then why wasn't he dropped off at Blue Pegasus?" She said confused.

"Because it was his mother's guild. The last mage that was called was called for her weaponry skills, Winoona Fertus."

He watched her reaction. She had dropped her cup of tea, the cup shattering. "But how? He's far too young to be hers!"

"Before they were sent off on the mission that would end their lives, the King took some blood samples. These samples were used to make super weapons. Warner, Bickslow, and Carma were those weapons."

Ooba seemed about to respond to that, but Asrai beat her to it. "Carma? That airhead was a super weapon?"

"Is." All eyes turned to Ooba. "She married Warner. She was with him."

"But that's not all." Ichiya said. "Ivan and Remy removed them from the government and eventually they returned to Raven Tail, but they weren't the only ones that were created. The King made three more. Master Bob's life was taken by one of the other 3."

"Yes, they go by numbers instead of names. 27 and 32. The one that killed Bob is no longer with the King. Raven Tail captured him and either they were able to pull him from the control the King had over him or he is dead." He still couldn't believe there was a possibility that Bickslow and the others could still be alive. If they were, maybe he could try and contact him. If there was anyone he could trust it would be him. But if he was alive, then why hadn't he tried to contact him before? Was it too dangerous to do so? If that was the case, then he needed to tread lightly.

"So what do we do now? If we can't make a treaty and if what you say is true, then war is unavoidable." Asrai said.

He took a deep breath. "I know, but at least we can try. There is too much at stake to just give up."

"I agree with Asrai." Sting stated, confusing the rest of the room. "Whether we like it or not, this war has been planned from the beginning. If Raven Tail is still living, they are most likely on the other side of the playing field. The ever growing darkness that this Warner guy spoke about. He must know something about the other side. Absolon must be gearing up for war as well."

Everyone continued to stare in shock at the white dragonslayer. He himself was kind of impressed. But he couldn't give up on trying to stop a war. Even if he was alone.

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _So now the guild masters know that truth. Seems like Edvin is getting what he wants out of Vik. I wonder how his family will react to that. I wonder how Kitt will react as well._


	6. Chapter 6

He laid there staring at the ceiling. He just had sex for the first time. Why wasn't he happier?

Next to him Edvin had nodded off. Probably tired after spending his time on the bottom.

His mind flashed back to what they had done. He didn't even look at the other boy as they did the deed. All he could think about was getting rid of his frustrations and now he seemed even more frustrated than before. Sleeping with Edvin wasn't the right way to solve this, but he couldn't help but think that it was for the best anyway. It wasn't like any other guy would want him like this. Edvin was always following him around. Edvin wanted him. Maybe he could grow to like him again, instead of hanging onto his crush. Kitt was straight and there was no changing that.

He sighed pulling himself up out of bed. It was dark out now, barely past 9pm. He could still leave and it wouldn't mean anything. But was he sure he wanted to leave. Giving into Edvin was easy, dealing with others was hard.

He heard a groggy jumble of words. "Babe, come back to bed." The other boy said still out of it.

He felt himself blush, but didn't walk back to bed. "I'm going to go for a walk."

"At this hour? Besides, you think I can walk?" Edvin complained.

He snorted. "I meant by myself. I got to head home, you know."

"You weren't thinking about home when you were…"

"I know, but my family is going to ask questions." He said, irritated. He continued dressing, much to his companion's annoyance. "If you don't like it go back to sleep. It's not we can go at it again." He said, stand up and walking out the door. The best part being that Edvin couldn't follow him. ' _Maybe I should clean up a bit. Kitt's apartment isn't that far off and I bet he won't be home yet_ '.

* * *

He watched Remy pace this living room for over ten minutes and couldn't help but believe that it was his fault. If he didn't get Vik drunk this would have never happened. The father called Ivan was out looking for him, with Vik's brother and sister in law, while he sat here doing nothing.

He felt horrible. The look on Vik's face was enough to send daggers through his chest. "I'm sorry. We shouldn't have been drinking. We were just went out to have some fun." He said quietly.

He watched the other man continue to glare at him. "Speaking of that, what kind of fun did you have?"

Now that was a question that he wasn't expecting. "Well, we went to the bar. We were talking to some girls, Vik ended up leaving early and I left soon after. When I got home, I couldn't find him. I didn't think he drank that much, but he seemed out of it when he got back. I tried asking him where he went, but he wouldn't tell me."

To his surprise the man's face softened. "So there is nothing going on between you?"

"What? No!" He said blushing without realizing. "I didn't even know he was gay before last night."

The older man gave him a confused look. "Vik never said anything to you? How did you find out?"

He looked down. "I just figured he was shy around women. Last night, when he disappeared. I just started putting the pieces together. It made the whole thing with Edvin a little more off-putting." He couldn't help but say Edvin's name with venom in his voice.

"Do you think that Vik has been around Edvin?" Remy asked curiously.

He felt a scowl form on his face. "That dick has been trying to get Vik to spend time with him. Every time we come back from a mission, he always goes to greet Vik, but he usually ignores him."

The man, who had sat down, was now leaning back in his seat. He looked like he was judging him or something. "How would you feel if they got together?"

He thought about some of it the night before, but never reached an answer. "I don't know. I don't like Edvin. I hate him being around, but I can't stand in Vik's way if he likes that jerk." He felt that same pulse of pain in his chest. The idea of the two together not only made him cringe, but now he just felt sad and depressed at the idea. "He's my best friend, I should want him to be happy."

The man across from him had a knowing look on his face, did he know something he didn't? He cleared his throat. "Have you ever thought of being with Vik yourself?"

The question didn't make him mad, it just confused him. The idea of being with his best friend like that seemed weird, but he wasn't disgusted by it. He felt himself blush as the image of the two of them being together hit his mind. Did he want Vik for himself? When did that happen?

Across from him, he didn't see Remy's knowing smile.

"That can't be, he's my best friend." He whispered.

Remy let out a light chuckle. "Let me tell you a little story about two boys." He looked up to find Vik's father amused with him, but he didn't say anything, letting the man continue. "When one boy was 6, he was taken to a guild where he ended up meeting the other boy. They became friends almost instantly and they did everything together. As they grew up, they faced many trails, from the deaths of parents and friends to an entire country wishing for their demises. Both boys now men walked a fine line for decades. Danger was around every corner, but they knew if they were together they could take down any foe. But then something unexpected happened, something neither of the men could ever dream up." His eyes were glued to Remy as he spoke.

"What was it?" He asked.

"They fell in love." Remy said. "Sometimes we can't see our soulmate because they've been in front of us all along."

He cocked his head to the side. "Why did it take them so long to figure it out?"

The older man chuckled. "They didn't want to ruin their friendship. Both of them thought that they would lose the other forever. There was also the factor of them being forever in danger."

"Is that really how you and Ivan got together?" He asked, it wasn't hard to figure out. He already knew about the dangers that the two of them faced, but he never knew that they weren't together during that time.

"Well, yeah. Ivan and I realized that we can't live without each other. No other person could ever come between us and no one ever will."

"Then who birthed Master Bickslow and Vik? If you weren't together, then how did you get two kids?" He couldn't help being curious. Two men couldn't have children and neither of the man's children looked to be adopted, they looked too much like their parents.

Remy sighed. "That was something Ivan and I had no control over. We didn't plan for children. We just came across them. Kitt, if you remember anything from this conversation, just remember that Fiore is a cruel place. What was done in the past cannot be fixed, but I do not regret the existence of my children. I would tell you more, but that is for Vik to decide on his own."

That he understood, it meant that classified information was involved. Maybe he would try and talk to Vik about it later. He stood up from the couch. "I think I'm going to go look for him."

Remy gave him a small nod. "That would probably be a good idea. I'm just here in case he comes home. In the future, I ask you both to stay away from alcohol. The last thing we need is for you to fry up your brain cells."

"Will do sir." He nodded before exiting out the door.

Remy had helped somewhat. He was still a little confused over the idea, but it seemed more viable. ' _Maybe we should try it and then we will know. A kiss should be enough to tell, right._ ' He thought to himself.

He made his way back to his apartment to clean out the booze first. There was no reason to keep it around now and it would make Vik's parents trust him again.

Rounding the corner to his apartment, he was surprised to find the light on. He felt himself start to move faster, almost running up the stairs. He got to the door in seconds and it opened, only for him to find his apartment empty. Disappointment flew threw him. Maybe he had left the light on before they left.

He heard a small creak from down the hall. Someone was in the shower. The water turned off and he heard a rustling sound. Whoever it was, was now getting dressed.

The bathroom door creaked open and he and Vik were face to face. Vik turned red. "I…I didn't think you would be home."

He blinked a couple of times, his heart rate accelerating. "I just left your house. I was coming to throw away the alcohol."

"You don't have too." Vik said.

"I…I wanted your parents to trust me. They got a bad opinion of me over dinner." Why did it feel so awkward? They were friends, why was this so difficult?

"Oh, still you don't have to do that. It was my fault for running off." Vik seemed embarrassed.

He shook his head. "I shouldn't have teased you. You're my best friend. I should've had your back."

"It's not that big of a deal." Vik said, shaking a towel on his head, trying to dry his hair.

"Yes it is. I want you to think I always have your back and I failed you." He said, slightly distracted by Vik's actions. When had hair drying become so….erotic….

"Kitt, you didn't fail me. You were just giving me shit. There is a difference." Vik said sitting down on the couch.

He didn't know how he moved, but he did, sitting right next to his friend on the couch. "I know, but I just…"

"Just what?" Vik asked, when he didn't continue.

He swallowed, trying to summon up the courage to do this. "Vik, I want to try something."

Vik looked confused. "What?"

His heart was beating so fast, he thought it would explode out of his chest. "Do you trust me Vik?"

"Well yeah, why?" Now Vik looked even more confused. It wasn't helping him still his jarring heart rate.

"Just promise me that whatever happens, we will always be friends."

"Well, sure. I don't see why we wouldn't be." Vik said giving him a funny look.

He took a deep breath, he was shaking slightly. "Okay…..I need you to close your eyes."

Confusion coated Vik's face. "Close my eyes? Why?"

"Please, just do it. You'll know soon enough." He said with a small stutter.

"Fine." Vik closed his eye and he stared.

Now that he was here, how would he even do this? Was it the same as kissing a girl or would it be different? Did Vik even want him to kiss him? What if Vik didn't even like him? This would he an entire waste of time.

"You know, it's kind of boring sitting her with my eyes shut. Whatever you're doing, you need to do it now. I got to get home soon." Vik complained with his eyes still shut.

Again taking a deep breath, he leaned in. His face was now only centimeters away from Viks. He dove in touching his lips to Viks. Vik's eyes flew open and he saw shock in them. He pulled away, cursing himself. Did he just ruin everything?

He stood up quickly, trying to get away before the yelling started, but was stopped. Vik had grabbed his arm. "Vik….I…."

Before he could answer, Vik had pulled him back up into another kiss. The other boy's eyes closed as he held him close. He started kissing him back, slowly closing his own eyes and wrapping his arms around the other boy's neck. His heart was still going mad, but instead of nervousness, a feeling of excitement was going through his body. He almost groaned when Vik ran his tongue across is upper lip. He had done this before with girls, he knew that signal. He opened his mouth, letting Vik do what wanted, what they both wanted. As tongues met for the first time, he let out a groan.

That seemed to break the spell as they both stopped, breathing heavily. As they stopped, he found that his arms were still wrapped around the other's neck, his fingers were going through Vik's hair. Vik's hands on the other hand, were no longer on his waist, instead they were both resting on his ass. Well, not really resting, more like holding.

They stayed like that for what seemed to be an eternity. Their eyes looking into each other's.

To his surprise, he could make coherent words. "Do you want to stay a little longer?"

Vik seemed to be speechless. He started to wonder if he did something wrong and was going to ask, but was quickly silenced by Vik's mouth again.

To Be Continued….

 _Author's Note_

 _Okay Vik, stop being such a man whore. You went from one boy's bed to another in one night. Also nice job Remy, you may have gotten your son a boyfriend. Also good going Kitt! But how are you going to react to Edvin later? What about Edvin's reaction to this new development?_


	7. Chapter 7

The ride back on the train had been a long one. Juvia had fallen asleep against Gray and he was the only one still awake. He just had too many questions on his mind. How had Raven Tail survived? Why didn't Bickslow tell him he was alive all of this time? Maybe it was only Warner and Carma that made it out, but that didn't sound right given what Babasaama had told him.

So then why hadn't he received word from his brother over the course of these 3 years? Did Bickslow think that he couldn't trust him? He thought that they had come to terms with that a long time ago.

He sighed, that couldn't be that either. Raven Tail had their reasons to keep the rest of the world in the dark.

As the train came to their stop, he shook Gray awake and watched as the ice mage picked up his sleeping girlfriend. Exiting the train, he knew he needed to speak to his grandfather. He would find this information interesting.

* * *

Ivan sighed as he returned home empty handed. Remy would be mad with him for not bringing Vik home, but he had no idea as to where the boy had to be. Bickslow had headed home as well, he and Lisanna wanted to get Xenia to bed as it was way past the girl's bedtime.

Remy was waiting up for him, but instead of looking worried, he looked rather smug. "Back so soon?"

He was kind of unnerved by his husband's actions. "Yeah. I couldn't find him."

He waited for the yelling to start, but instead found his lover chuckling. "I think I have an idea of where he could be and don't worry. He'll be fine." Remy jumped up from his seat and started stocking towards him.

"What do you mean?" He said really confused, as his lover backed him against a wall.

"You know I do like it when you shave." Remy said into his ear. What did that have to do with anything? Sure he hadn't been able to shave in a while but that had nothing to do with their son at the moment.

"Remy, I think we need to find Vik. You said you know where he could be, but what if he isn't? It's getting cold out there you know." He said, trying to talk sense into his husband.

Remy gave him a frown. "And here I thought we could enjoy the night alone."

"Not when our kid is out running the streets." He said, annoyed with his lover's behavior.

"But he's not on the streets." Remy said annoyed that his night had been ruined.

"You don't know that." He quipped back.

Remy sighed. "He's with Kitt. He'll be fine."

That made him raise an eyebrow. "I thought you couldn't stand Kitt."

"I don't hate the boy. He's just confused. Much like I used to be." Remy stated.

He still didn't understand what Remy was talking about. "What do you mean? You were never a drinker."

Remy face palmed. "That's not what I meant. I'm talking about us."

"What about us?" Really what did Kitt have to do with Remy and himself. That made no sense.

"You and me, before we started…well you know." Remy looked at him expecting him to know what he was talking about.

"No, I don't know. What are you even talking about?" He asked dumbfounded.

Remy let out a growl of annoyance, before slamming him against the wall and locking lips with him. While he still had questions, he had to admit that he rather liked this side of his lover. From time to time, it was okay to have angry bouts of passion, but now was not the time for that. He pushed back on Remy giving him a look of confusion over his actions. They just didn't fit the situation.

Remy gave him a glare. "Kitt doesn't realize that he is gay, Ivan. Just like I didn't know all of those years ago. Really when did you get so dense?"

"I'm not dense, you just wanted to jump into bed without even saying anything. Besides, how can you be fine with Vik being sexually active? He's only 17." He argued back.

"Like you're one to talk. You were sleeping with Kaya when you were 16. Besides, you never had a problem with Bickslow and Lisanna doing it." Remy sneered.

"That was because the boy was in his twenties. He's not a teenager. And I regret that. I should have never slept with Kaya because all it did was screw up her life." He said with more venom than he thought he could muster.

Remy gave him a funny look. "But we didn't know about our feelings yet."

He looked away from his husband. "If I didn't sleep with her, then I wouldn't have married her and she wouldn't have had to die in child birth."

"Ivan…" He looked up, Remy was closer again, and he was going to say something, when he received a slap to the face. "Ivan Dreyar-Resus! Don't you dare blame yourself for that!"

He touched the side of his face. "That hurt, you bastard!"

"Well I was hoping to knock some sense into you. It's not your fault that she died. That's just how life works. Do you regret Laxus too? That boy is alive because you married her and I bet he wouldn't be too happy with you if he knew that you regretted your relationship with his mother."

"He didn't like me too much to begin with anyway. He was probably glad to find out I "died"." He didn't mean to sound so bitter. After all, he did have a good life with his lover and their two children, but that time was lost. That time of watching Laxus grow up was gone. The boy became a man without him even knowing. Bickslow came to them as a man, but they were able to help him train and grow. Laxus was beyond growing and he had missed everything.

To his surprise, Remy walked over and placed him into a hug. "I doubt that he hates you that much. You just don't know each other."

"But how are we even supposed to know each other? It's not like we are going to stay peaceful. War is coming and Laxus is an S class mage. He will be ordered to fight for Fiore." He knew this for a fact. It was the same reason he and Remy had been called all of those years ago.

"Do you really think he would fight against us? Against Bickslow? The two of them are friends. If anything, he would be happy to see us alive, along with your father. We're a family. Laxus knows what happened. I doubt that he would side with the King after knowing such information."

He tried to pull free from Remy's grasp, but he didn't have the strength. His lover held him tightly against him. "Just promise me, that no matter what happens. You'll never leave me. I've already lost too much"

Remy gave him a sad smile. "I love you. I have no reason to ever leave you. Even if you are a handful from time to time" Remy leaned in placing a kiss on his forehead. "Why don't I show you how much I love you?"

* * *

He had just gotten to sleep, who would be knocking on his door at this time of night. Makarov raved as he stormed off towards the door.

"Whatever it is, it can wait till morning." He said not looking up at his guest.

"Gramps it can't wait." Laxus said, his arms crossed at the door.

The old man sighed. "Fine, but I'm not making anything and I'm tired, so make it fast."

Laxus let himself in, sitting down on the small couch as he jumped onto his easy chair.

His grandson let out a huff, before starting to speak. "What if I told you that there are still some Raven's flying about?"

He blinked a couple of times. "Laxus, now is not the time for jokes."

"Gramps, I'm not joking. Babasaama was visited by two members of Raven Tail." He stated.

He let out a weak laugh. "That old coot is probably just seeing things in her old age."

"I highly doubt it. What she said was rather convincing. If it was just Warner than I would have given it a pass, but she had no knowledge of Carma's existence, yet she knew her as Warner's wife." Now this sparked his interest.

"What else did she say?" He wanted to know more, he wasn't ready to admit that Ivan and Bickslow could be alive, but he was still interested none the less.

Laxus sighed. "While they were there, they were looking for information on Winoona Fertes. Warner's mother. They also came with a warning."

His eyebrows scrunched together. "A warning of what?"

"As much as I want to make that treaty with Absolon, it may all be for nothing. Absolon must be gearing up for war as well. Both governments want it and Absolon may have an edge. If Raven Tail is involved than we much prepare ourselves for the on slot. I will fight, but only to protect the innocent people of Fiore, not for the ideals of a King bent on controlling our neighbors to the north." Laxus proclaimed.

"Do you think that Ivan and Remy agreed to start a war?" While it wasn't too surprising, he didn't think that his son would want to see innocent lives be messed with. Wasn't that why Raven Tail was formed in the first place.

"Only if they saw no other option. Think about it Gramps, their guild and home was destroyed. They may have had nowhere else to go after the blast and it was their only option. Also as experience has taught me, anger and hatred are the worst kind of fuel. It may have been a decision made in anger and now they may be looking for a way out. Why else would they reveal two of their members to Ooba?" Laxus did have a point.

"So how do we go about contacting them?" He didn't want to sound too hopeful, but if there was any chance that they could be alive, he would not waste any time.

Laxus leaned into the couch. "That part I don't know, but I feel like a trip to Absolon is in order."

"When will you be going?" He asked, knowing he would have to stay here and hold down the fort.

"I will take the Thunder Legion and our families. I can easily write it off as a vacation for us all." Laxus said, slightly gloomy.

"Won't that put them in danger?" He asked.

"Not if they don't know the reason for the trip. We will keep it just between you and me."

* * *

He watched his wife put their daughter down to sleep, as a small beeping noise came from their living room.

He left, he knew that signal. Warner and Carma were on their way back.

' _You don't seem too worried. If they are coming back this soon, than they must have not gotten any information.'_ The demon said in the back of his mind.

He smirked to himself. 'That wasn't the point. It did what it needed to do.'

' _And what was that exactly?'_ The demon asked.

'The world has believed us dead for far too long. Let the rumors stir first. Put the people on edge a little before the curtain opens and the first act begins.'

' _I'm still lost. There is no reason to speak in riddles with me. It's not like I can tell anyone anything.'_ The demon scoffed inside his head.

'The people of Fiore think that we were in the wrong, but this will clench Fiore's need for war. They will come and try to attack our borders as the rumors grow. King Fiore will feel a need to silence those rumors, by attacking the country that started them.' He thought back.

' _How is that a good thing?'_ Cetus said confused.

He chuckled slightly. 'Because they will have walked right into my trap.'

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

 _I know, no Vik, Kitt, or Edvin in this chapter, but we did need to spend some time with the other characters. Remy and Ivan needed some love and this story is about both Bickslow and Laxus, so really they need to be featured, lol._


	8. Chapter 8

Getting his friends on the train proved easier than he thought it would. Finding babysitters was easy as well and now they were on their way. Mira seemed rather excited. He couldn't remember the last time they had gone anywhere together. After he took over as guild master, he didn't go on any jobs and the others now made up new teams. Mira kept to bartending, while Ever had made being a parent her full time job. Even if they didn't know the real reason for the trip, they needed to do something like this. Even if he was wrong, it would be beneficial to everyone. It was time they got over their grief and moved forward. That's what the others would have wanted. If it turned out that they were alive then they could figure out why they had stayed quiet.

"Laxus, what are you thinking about?" Mira said with a smile on her face. It had been such a long time since she had smiled like that. Even with a new baby, she was still distant at times.

"Nothing, just tired of being on trains." That really wasn't a lie. He had just spent the day before on a train and this trip would take over 9 hours.

Ever crossed her arms in annoyance. "You were the one that planned this trip last second. You could have found another way to travel if you had thought about it."

"A real man doesn't plan ahead! He just faces everything head on!" Elfman said, before receiving a smack across the face.

"Still after all of this time, all you can say is a real man does this and a real man does that! Can't you think of something else?" Ever screeched.

It was times like this that made him glad that he wasn't the one that ended up with Ever, Elfman always had his sympathy.

Across from them, Freed was looking over everything that Laki was eating, much to the pregnant girl's annoyance. "You don't have to inspect everything."

Freed murmured something, but he couldn't make it out. Probably something about packing their own food. He swore that the man would be worse than Ever when the kid came out.

Mira just giggled next to him. "I can't wait to see the capital. I hear that Absolon has some fantastic architecture."

He smiled down at her. "Yeah, and I hear that the food is something else."

"The food!" Freed said anxiously.

Laki rolled her eyes. "Just let it go."

"She has a point Freed, you can't just micro manage what she eats." Mira said.

"Just watch me." The green haired man grumbled.

Laki just groaned next him, he knew that what Mira had just said had made things worse for the purple haired mage.

The train rounded a corner, before heading into a tunnel. He sighed to himself. Hoping that this trip would prove him right.

* * *

He was still shocked with himself as he pulled himself from Kitt's bed. Never had he expected things to turn out this way. After they had kissed, they had found their way into Kitt's bedroom, but it never went any farther than touching. His friend or could he say lover, was still new to the idea. He wasn't going to rush him.

And then there was the problem of Edvin. What would the two of them do if they knew about the other? He had only slept with Edvin hours before making out with Kitt. If he became lovers with Kitt, what would Edvin do? He couldn't see the red head giving up so easily.

There was also Kitt. What if this was all just an experiment on his part? The other boy could have also been drunk, even though he hadn't tasted it on his breath. No Kitt was sober for it, but it still confused him. How did his friend go from trying to pick up chicks, to groping him under the covers? It just didn't make any sense.

Looking over at Kitt as he slept, he couldn't help but drag his fingers though the other boy's blue hair. He had always liked his bizarre hair color, but it paled in comparison to his orange eyes. They always gave off the appearance of danger and Kitt was a pretty strong mage. Messing with him was kind of dangerous on its own.

He took a deep breath. Both Kitt and Edvin had no idea what they were getting into with him. They both knew he was with Raven Tail. Both knew his parents were once the guild masters. Both knew that he was biologically theirs. But they didn't know the other side of the coin. They didn't see the blood that stained his hands, nor did they knew why he was created in the first place. Bickslow had told him time and time again to put that behind him, but he just couldn't. What if he slipped back into his kill mode? That side of him wasn't too friendly. Could he really let either of them into his life knowing that risk?

"What's wrong with you? It's way too early for you to be thinking this hard." Kitt yawned, still half asleep.

"Nothing much." He said trying to stand, but found that couldn't leave the bed. "Kitt, I would like to go to the bathroom."

"Hmmmm" The other boy rolled over, a small laugh escaped from his lips.

"Do you want me to wet the bed or something? Stop controlling the water in by body." He said annoyed.

The other boy just laughed again. "Fine, but only because these are new sheets and I have better ways of dirtying them."

He froze as his mind thought up some very dirty thoughts. "Would any of those ways involve me?"

"I thought you had to use the bathroom." Kitt said snorting under his blanket.

He growled. "I do, but you still haven't released me."

Kitt laughed again, only this time sitting up and pecking him on the nose. "Because it's fun to watch you squirm." The other boy then proceeded to jump out of bed. "You know, I feel a little dirty right now. You up for a shower."

He blushed, was Kitt really asking if they could mess around in the shower. "What do you have in mind?"

"So your mind is now forever planted in the gutter?" Kitt said, amused with how he could easily arouse him.

"Is there a problem with that?" He asked, knowing full well what the other boy had in mind.

Kitt smiled down at him, before releasing his hold on his body. "No, as long as you're only thinking about me, I can handle that."

Now that he could finally move, he pulled the other boy down on top of him and started kissing him again. Kitt seemed startled at first, but soon he was kissing him back with just as much force. He could feel the other open up his mouth and he dived right in. Enjoying every second of the other's tongue against his. He grinned into the kiss as he thrust himself against Kitt, resulting in the other moaning into his mouth.

When he finally pulled away, Kitt seemed to be a mess of emotions. "Why don't we finish this in the shower?" He asked, quite proud of himself.

Kitt seemed so out of it that he could barely nod. Excitement began to crawl through his veins. If Kitt would let him, he would just take him right now…but he had to wait. This wasn't like Edvin. Kitt was new to this. He would give him everything but that until the time was right.

"So how long are we going to put this shower off?" Kitt said, regaining some of his wit. He would have to put an end to that.

A wild smirk began to spread across his face. "Why not now?"

* * *

He had woken up early. Karma and Warner would be back any second and he wanted a full report from them. How many people had seen them and how fast would the word spread?

' _If I didn't know any better, I would think that you are starting to enjoy the idea of war?'_ The demon said in the back of his mind.

He placed his hands together, in front of him. 'No, but I do love when a plan comes together.'

The voice chuckled. _'I think I'm starting to rub off on you. So what will be your plan after that?'_

He smirked, even though the monster couldn't see it. 'Fiore's fall, of course.'

' _Are we still talking about the man or the country?'_ The demon questioned.

Before he could answer, Warner and Karma knocked on the door before entering. "So how did it go?"

Karma sighed. "We got nothing for the most part."

He leaned back in his chair. "How many people got a look at you?"

"All of Lamia Scale." Warner scoffed. "Why did you even send us there in the first place? All these years of hiding could have been wasted in one afternoon."

He stood, walking over to the window, a small chuckled escaped from him. "The war is starting soon. Wouldn't it be better to see Fiore in a panic, rather than confident? No one took your picture, am I right?"

"Well yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" Karma asked, annoyed with him.

"Because rumors are hard to deal with. Imagine, if you will, King Fiore hearing the news that he didn't destroy his greatest adversary after all. Do you know what his reaction will be?"

Warner cocked an eyebrow up, as Karma tilted her head to the side. "No, I don't know. Because it is stupid for us to reveal ourselves."

"No, it isn't. The King believes that he has all of the power in the world right now. But after hearing such rumors, he will lead his strongest to our front door." He said, watching as they began to understand what he was planning.

"So we take them out before the war can even start, giving us the advantage." Warner said dazed from the idea.

"It's brilliant. Far too brilliant for you to have come up with on your own. Did that demon help you with this?" Karma said giggling to herself.

He chuckled. "No, this was all me. Though I did get a little help from our inside source, back in Fiore."

"I almost forgot about her. She left us on a whim, but you told us why years ago." Warner said, flashing a smile. "All of this talk of the past makes me really want a smoke."

"You will not start that nasty habit again! Not with Gunner in the house!" Karma said alarmed with the gun mage.

Warner held his hand's up in defense. "I was only joking, dear."

"Well that's not funny." She said, pouting in her chair.

"As I was saying, we keep this plan between the three of us, four if we include Vik." Bickslow said trying not to be harsh.

"So you're not letting Lisanna in on this?" Karma said, giving him a disapproving look.

He sighed. "We are weapons. Battle is where we shine. Lisanna, along with the other members of the guild don't need to be burdened with the plan."

"What about your parents?" Karma asked.

He shook his head. "I will not bring them into this. They have had enough hardship. Besides, if something goes wrong, someone has to lead the guild."

"Do you trust Vik to use that form, the three of us can barely use it without going insane." Warner pointed out.

"He will be fine, with a little more training. I was planning to start it in a couple of days. At the moment, I can stay in that mode for around 20 minutes before everything starts to go to shit." He stated.

"That's better than me, I'm up to 15." Warner said.

Karma remained quiet, she hadn't been training that form at all. Considering that her magic was quite different than the others, he could see why. Complete mind control was a lot harder to harness than his eyes or her husband's guns. Warner could put down the gun, Cetus could remove him, but Vik and her didn't have that. If he didn't have Cetus he would also be lost to the mode as well.

"I can start working with you, while Bickslow works with Vik. If Fiore sends his strongest, I bet that 25 and 32 will be among them. All four of us will be needed in that case." Warner said with a hard edge to his voice.

He knew it wasn't fair. He and Vik had been able to grow as siblings, Warner and Karma were never given that chance. To make matters worse, he and Vik still had parents and a family. Karma had Jose, while Warner didn't have any family besides his wife and child.

"Maybe they aren't beyond saving? 25 and 32 may just be confused like Vik was back when he was 55." Karma said trying to lighten the mood.

Warner shook his head. "We can't just hope for them to see the truth. They will be looking for any weakness and I doubt they would show us any mercy on the battle field."

He nodded, agreeing with the gun mage. "Warner is right. As much as I don't like it, we can't let our guard down around them."

Karma seemed a little disappointed. "I just wish things had been different."

"We can't change the past. From what we know, those two are content to be living their lie." Warner said, sadness creeping into his voice as well.

"After all of this is said and done, we can focus on that. 25 and 32 are still out there and at the moment they are a threat. If they change sides then we will accept them, but only after they are judged to be trustworthy. We don't need them spying." He said.

"I bet they wouldn't spy, more like try to destroy us. Remember how Vik was in the beginning." Karma pointed out.

Warner gave his wife a small smile. "Yeah if that kid could change, there may be hope for the others yet." He watched as the man pulled himself up from his chair. "While it has been fun, we do have a child to attend to. I bet Gunner has destroyed the house and Uncle Jose is a little overwhelmed."

Karma laughed and stood as well. "Yeah, I'm betting that I'll have to buy new china again."

"Why do you even buy nice plates anyway? The boy throws them when he gets mad." He inquired.

The woman put her hands on her hips. "Can't I ask for one nice thing around the house?"

He snorted. "Not when you have kids. Tell Gunner and Jose, hi for me."

"Will do, when is the next guild meeting?" Warner said as he made his way to the door.

"Tomorrow night. Same place, you know the drill." He smirked as the man and his wife left.

' _They are such a happy couple. It makes me sick.'_ Cetus said making a sound that sounded a lot like barfing.

'Nothing wrong with that.' He retorted.

' _You didn't answer my question earlier.'_ The demon stated.

'What question?' He had really forgotten what the two of them were even talking about.

' _Fiore's fall. Is it all about the man or do you want the country itself to fall at your knees?'_ The demon chuckled.

'You already know the answer to that.' He said riffling through some papers.

' _Really? It seems like you are dodging my question. Does that mean what I think it means?'_ The demon said with a sadistic ring to its voice.

He growled. 'You're reading too far into it. I just want to knock them down a few pegs that's all.'

' _Is it all? I think it has to be more than that.'_

As much as he wanted to argue with the demon, he couldn't. Fiore wasn't the same as it once was. He wasn't the same person that he was 3 years ago. He had changed, whether it was for the good was still unknown.

'The trap will work and you'll see. They can't hide themselves from the truth forever.'

' _And you're content with that?'_ The demons said smugly. To his own surprise, he wasn't. He found that he wanted more. _'You see. We aren't so different you and I.'_

"Oh please, we are nothing alike. Why the hell did I merge with you again?" He didn't really mean to speak out loud, but he was getting annoyed.

' _You wished to save your guild, but now it's more than that. I can help you do that, if you wish.'_

He pondered the words for a second, but shook his head. "No, you're wrong. I will only use your power if I need to. Nothing more, nothing less."

' _You really take all of the fun out of everything.'_ Cetus growled with annoyance.

"Good."

To Be Continued….

 _Author's Note_

 _If you noticed this is a longer one. I'm trying to write longer chapters for all of my series. So we have the thunder legion in route to Absolon and finally we get to see them all after so long. That and we get a nice kinky moment with Vik/Kitt. Also who is the person that is in Fiore? Is it a face we know or someone else? Cetus seems to be wanting some bloodshed. It seems that after all this time, he is starting to affect Bickslow's decisions and personality._

 _On another note, I had a question for my readers. On my computer, I have some of the smut scenes from Window to the Soul and this series. I don't plan on putting them into the story itself, but if you guys want to read them I will upload it either to another story file or on a separate site. If I upload them, I'm going to do it on a review basis. The more feedback I get, the more of them that will be released. That is if you want to read them. So far it's mainly the first time scenes, which would get uploaded first. Like Ivan/Remy after the wrist cutting, all the way until Edvin and Vik's scene and any future scenes that may be in this series._


	9. Chapter 9

Vik gave Kitt a smile as they left the apartment. He wondered how things would go with his parents after Kitt and himself became an item. If they became an item.

Kitt, while very adamant about trying new things with him, still didn't say anything that hinted at a relationship. At the moment, they were just fooling around, which wasn't any different from what he and Edvin were doing. But Kitt did say something about wanting him to only think of him, but that could have just been in the moment. After the shower, he had said nothing about it or anything else for that matter. He had grown rather quiet.

Speaking of Edvin, how would he react to this? Would he just laugh it off or would he be heartbroken?

They rounded a corner and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Edvin standing there watching them. No, he was watching him. His eyes almost burning him from afar. He knew it was a bad idea to sleep with him. If he had only waited, he could have figured this thing out with Kitt.

To his horror, the red head started towards them. This could be bad. Edvin didn't do well with rejection. He thought about steering Kitt and himself out of the other boy's way, but what good would that do?

Edvin gave Kitt a small glare and he watched as the two of them stared daggers at each other.

Edvin's eyes turned to him. "Where did you run off last night? I was waiting for you to come back."

He mentally cursed. He had completely forgotten that he had slept with Edvin only hours ago. Now he could feel Kitt's gaze on him and it wasn't the warm look he had been getting all morning. Instead it felt rather cold. "I had more important things to be doing." He could almost smack himself for his lack of tact.

"So after all of that, you had better things to be doing?" Edvin's face fell for just a brief second, before looking back up at him with anger. The boy had every reason to be angry with him. He did take his virginity that night.

"I'm sorry." He would have continued, but Edvin backed away enraged.

"Keep your apologies to yourself." The other boy turned his back and began to leave. "If you think for one second that I will ever forgive you for this, you will be mistaken." And with that the other boy stormed off.

He turned to his side to look at Kitt, but the other boy was avoiding his gaze. "Kitt…"

"What were you doing with Edvin?" The other said finally looking at him, but now he wished he hadn't. He had never seen Kitt look at him with so much distrust.

He sighed. "We were just messing around. Like you and I were." Again he cursed himself. It seemed that wasn't the answer that Kitt wanted.

"So you touched him the same way you touched me?" The other boy said backing away from him.

He tried to shake his head, it wasn't the same at all. "No, it was different."

Kitt still kept his distance. "How is it any different, huh? From how he was going on, you had to be doing more than just touching. Was that your game? You tried to confuse me so you could sleep with me, didn't you!" The blue haired boy eyes were filled with nothing but rage. There was nothing he could do to stop this. His actions had sealed his fate.

"It was more than that!" He tried anyway.

Kitt laughed. "How so? You almost had everybody fooled. Were you just going to use me the same way you used him. You wanted to dominate me that way didn't you?! You wanted to humiliate me!"

"That was not what I was doing! If you would listen for a couple of seconds instead of screaming at me, then maybe you would know the truth." He said, getting angry himself as an old feeling was starting to make its presence known.

"Truth? What truth? From what you have shown me, you're really good at hiding it. How long were you screwing Edvin?"

SMACK! He didn't even remember smacking Kitt. It just happened. He wanted the truth, but could he really handle it. Could Kitt really handle more than his feelings? Could he handle the monster that lurked beneath?

Kitt looked up at him with tears in his eyes. "I trusted you. I thought we were friends, maybe even more than that."

He looked down and away. He couldn't keep doing this. He shouldn't have been messing with either of them. Neither of them would be able to handle it. "I'll speak with my brother." He felt the pain start, redness starting to come over his vision.

"What?" Kitt sounded confused, but he didn't look up.

Instead, he turned his back to him. "You'll need a new partner, won't you. I just can't be trusted. If you don't want to see me again, I understand." And with that he ran. He could hear Kitt calling after him, but he ignored it. The pain in the back of his mind was becoming too much. He needed to get away from everyone.

He barely made it to a clearing before his world turned red. Everything around him began to twist and turn. In the back of his mind, he could hear it laughing. It wanted out. It wanted to play.

He heard something fall to the ground and as he turned the area around him started to engulf him in darkness. His magic was slipping from him. It was doing all of this on its own. It had been locked up for too long.

Behind him, he could hear its footsteps, before speaking. _"It's been a long time, 55."_

He tried to back up, but it only stocked forward. It looked just like him. Only it was younger, its eyes forever keeping that shade of red. If he didn't know any better he would have thought that he was looking at himself at 14, before he knew the truth. Back when he was a drone of Fiore.

" _I missed you. Can't we be one again?"_ It said offering him its hand.

He shook his head violently. He had left that name years ago. He left that part of him.

" _Why not, didn't we have fun?"_ It said scooting closer.

"No we didn't." He didn't even realize that he had spoken out loud. "I don't like to kill people."

It laughed. _"That's not what you said then. Remember our Master? Don't you want to help him?"_

He covered his ears. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to see it. He didn't want to relive this.

"VIK!" The sound of his brother's voice, cut through the darkness like a knife.

He opened his eyes. The darkness was gone.

* * *

Looking down at Vik, he could see that his eyes were halfway to their kill state. His brother had been trying to keep it from coming out. He almost smiled, wasn't this what he had just spoke about with Karma and Warner?

"What have you been up to?" He asked, knowing full well what was going on.

He watched his brother fidget. "I'm sorry. It just tried to push itself out. I just got into a fight with Kitt and Edvin and it just kind of happened." He watched as Vik looked down at the ground, the boy seemed ready to break into tears.

He placed his hand on Vik's shoulder, teleporting them away from town. They needed some place quiet to discuss this. When they reappeared they were surrounded by trees. "Now what happened with Kitt and Edvin?"

Vik locked his jaw together, not saying a word.

He sighed. "I can't help you unless you tell me. Now I will ask again. Why are Edvin and Kitt mad with you? And why did you almost go into your kill mode?"

Vik kept his face down. "Because I'm stupid."

"Why would you say that?" He asked, sitting down on a nearby log.

"I thought that Kitt was straight. That he would never be interested in someone like me, so I slept with Edvin. After that Kitt kissed me and now both of them think that I used them." Vik turned his back to him. "My head started to hurt and I ran. I didn't want it to hurt anyone. I've already done enough of that myself."

He let out a huff. "Who would have known that my baby brother would be such a man magnet?" He knew this was serious but at the same time it was hard for him to imagine that the boy that showed up three years ago, who was scared of his sexual orientation, had two guys that wanted to be with him.

"It's not funny, Bickslow! Now they both hate me and I almost became 55 again!" Vik yelled, getting in his face.

"They may be mad now, but eventually they will calm down. And you did well. You know that you don't want to be 55 and that's good start." He said, ready to ask his brother about the training.

"But what if they don't? Both of them looked so crushed." Vik said, not even focused on the whole 55 thing.

"Trust me. They both like you and Edvin came back after you messed up everything at the ball 3 years ago." He said snorting to himself.

Vik blushed. "Yeah, but I didn't take his virginity then." The boy covered his mouth, but the damage was already done.

He couldn't help it, he was on the ground. "Well if he wanted to see you again this morning, it had to be good. And if you stayed the night with Kitt, I don't think that he's going to stay away either. Eventually one or both of them will understand that this was all a huge misunderstanding." He said with his voice evening out again. With that Vik came and sat next to him. He laughed before he gave him a pat on the back. "Besides, they'll want another piece of you."

His brother gave him a disgruntled look before crossing his arms. "Is my love life the only reason you brought me out here?"

His playful smirk, faded away. "No, I have something rather dangerous to ask of you."

He almost smiled as he watched his brother cock an eyebrow up at him. He had peaked his interest. "What could be more dangerous than what we are doing now?" He knew what Vik was talking about. Raven Tail was dangerous enough.

He sighed. "Earlier you almost went into your kill mode." He looked up at his brother finding a slight look of fear in his eyes. "Warner, Karma, and myself are trying to learn how to use that mode without going off the deep end. My own training has gotten me up to about 20 minutes. Warner is up to 15. If both you and Karma train yourselves, we can be more powerful than you could possibly imagine. This war would be over in a matter of seconds and so many lives could be spared."

Vik shook his head. "That mode doesn't exist to save lives. All it does is kill without thought or emotion."

"Maybe that's what we need. Vik, I'm not asking you to do this for me or anyone else. I'm asking that you do this for yourself. If we don't learn how to control ourselves in that mode, we could all wake up one day and destroy everything we hold dear." He stated, watching his brother beginning to waver.

Vik finally picked his head up. "What do dad and papa think about this?"

This time he looked away. "I didn't want to bother them with it. You know how they get when either of us bring out the weapon thing."

Vik gave him a half smile. "So I wouldn't have to worry about 55 anymore?"

He smiled. "If we get lucky we may get two more faces on our side."

He watched Vik blink a couple of times. "You don't mean….they wouldn't turn on the Master. OW!" He bobbed his brother on the head. He wouldn't stand for Vik calling that monster master.

"25 and 32 just need to see the truth for themselves. They may be loyal to Fiore now, but I remember another young mage that was once perfectly loyal to that goon." He said, watching his brother's expressions. "If we do this, you can't tell your boyfriends anything, nor can you tell anyone for that matter. This stays between us weapons."

To his surprise, Vik nodded. "I'll do it. Maybe a change in scenery will be good. It will give Kitt and Edvin time to cool down."

He smiled, reaching his hand out. "Welcome aboard."

* * *

He couldn't believe this. Why didn't Vik tell him about Edvin? Did he want to keep the two of them from knowing about each other? If he wanted that, wouldn't he have steered him away from Edvin this morning.

"Oh look who it is, the home wreaker." Edvin said sneering at him.

He growled. "Look asshole, you're the last person I want to see right now!"

Edvin looked confused for a second. "What? You don't want to deal with me after you stole him from me!"

"What are you talking about?! Vik used me!" He said throwing a punch at a wall.

Edvin then did something he didn't expect. He smiled. "So you left him alone then?"

He froze. "You still want him after that!"

The other boy chuckled. "Of course I do! If you're out of the picture, then he is available."

He tilted his head to the side in confusion. "But he cheated on you with me." What was with this guy, was he delusional?

"Technically we weren't dating, so I can't really call it cheating. I was just mad that you came into the picture. I thought I could finally have him for myself." Edvin admitted.

He blinked a couple of times as the words sunk in. "Wait, what?"

"You really are stupid. If you didn't notice, Vik is in love with you." The other boy said with disgust.

In love with him? Now that he thought about it, Vik seemed beyond happy about him kissing him and everything that had happened after that. "But that can't be. He was with you." He stated, barely believing that Edvin was saying.

The other boy gave an annoyed sigh. "Why couldn't it have been me? If Cecilia didn't come into the picture, everything would have been fine."

"Who is Cecilia?" He couldn't help but ask the question out loud.

Edvin looked away. "My fiancé. My mother arranged it before I was born."

"Do they know that your…well you know?" He asked, not looking the other boy in the eye.

"Gay? No. I think my mother would faint. I have an image I have to keep up. Remember, son of the Prime Minister. I don't get to have a life of my own." He could hear the dread in Edvin's voice.

For the first time since meeting the red head, he felt sorry for him. Not only because of his life, but because he took Vik away from him. "I'm sorry."

The red head glared at him. "I don't want your apologies. I want to have something for myself for once. Is that too hard to ask?"

"We should find Vik. It's the only way we can sort his out." He sighed. "Last time I saw him was moments after you ran off."

"So we'll just track him down and ask him about everything." Edvin said, leaning against the wall of the building.

He looked down. "That may be harder then we think."

Edvin squinted his eyes together. "What do you mean?"

"He thinks that I don't want to see him ever again." He said sadly.

Edvin perked up a bit at this. "So I have a chance then?'"

"Is that all you got out of this conversation?" He said glaring at him.

"Hey, all is fair in love and war." He chuckled.

"Let's just find him before I punch you in the face, pretty boy."

"Whatever you say, blue bimbo."

To Be Continued…

 _ **Author's Note**_

 _ **Ducks under her desk and awaits thrown objects. Please don't kill me. This just seemed like the best way to get Edvin and Kitt to talk and Vik needed to be separated from them to talk with Bickslow. This will also allow Edvin and Kitt to get to know each other. Also Vik needs to work out his issues with that part of himself. This will also allow Vik to bond more with the other weapons and maybe a change in the dynamic in the Kitt/Vik/Edvin relationship. If you can't tell, I'm playing around with the idea of them being in a three way relationship. I bet that won't go over well with everyone, lol.**_

 _ **This chapter would have been out on Sunday, but I had my computer crash, not once, not twice but five times in the middle of typing and let's just say I was pissed. I had to start over multiple times. I was hoping to get two done this week, but it didn't happen. I'm hoping that I can get more written for both of my fics, but over the next two weeks I'm moving. I'm going to try and get a chapter out next week, but it may not happen. Again sorry for the inconvenience.**_


	10. Chapter 10

Bickslow transported them back to hidden his office at the parliament building. His brother probably wanted to set something up so they could have days to train without anyone noticing. He looked over the calendar and wondered how it would be possible. His brother's schedule was packed. Every day, he had something going on, whether it was a meeting with Magnus or a guild meeting, sometimes both. Some had recruitment scouting written on them, with other names attached to them, but he couldn't tell if it was the name of the member or the person they were scouting.

"How are we going to find time to train with your schedule?" He really couldn't see a way with all of this. Heck, in less than two weeks it was Lisanna's birthday and there was no way Bickslow would forget that.

"It's doable. You just may need to cut out your partying at night." His brother joked.

He really hadn't thought of training at night. "I don't party."

"Says the boy that has more than one boy after his ass." His brother snarked, grabbing a pen from this desk and sitting down.

"They are not after my ass!" He said pouting as he sat down. Blushing as thought it over. He had never really imagined himself as the bottom anyway.

His brother laughed even louder. "Then they are after your dick then?"

He didn't think that his face could turn any redder. He was wrong. "Like anyone would really be after that."

"So my brother is a top then. I guess that makes sense. You prefer to give a pounding than receiving one." His brother teased.

He covered his ears. "Shut up."

"Oh come on, can't I just tease you from time to time. Besides, I may not get a chance like this again. You're the last person I get to tease about this." His brother said leaning back in his chair.

"What do you mean? You'll be teasing Xenia when she starts bringing guys home." He said annoyed.

His brother's eyes flashed. "No, I don't think there will be any guys in my house."

He gave his brother a confused look. "Why not?"

His brother's face grew dark. "Vik, I was once a young man. I know how they think."

Oh…..poor Xenia would never have a boyfriend when she got older. Her father would rip the suitors apart. Now that he thought about it, he didn't see their parents being too open to someone going after their granddaughter. Heck, he didn't like the idea either. "What if she doesn't bring a guy home?"

To his surprise, his brother chuckled. "I would prefer that to a boy at this point. I would have less to worry about."

He rolled his eyes. "Bickslow, she's a baby. I don't think she is going to be dating anytime soon."

"Trust me, if you ever have kids, you'll realize how fast everything is. It all passes in the blink of an eye." His brother said, flipping through some papers.

"Considering my preferences, I don't see any kids in my future." He said leaning back in his chair.

Bickslow let out a small chuckle. "You never know. Remember how we came to be."

"And that is not offered to the public. No child of mine is going to be grown in a lab like I was." He crossed his arms over his chest, almost growling as he spoke.

"So you want kids then?" Bickslow said laughing.

"As I said, it's not going to happen. Besides that the last thing I want right now." He said annoyed.

"Yeah, Dad and Pops would fall over if you had a kid with Kitt…or was it Edvin?" His brother snorted.

He groaned. "Can we not talk about that right now?"

"Oh, why not?"

He blushed. "Because they don't want to see me. They want nothing to do with me."

"Which one do you like more?" Bickslow said.

He mumbled to himself, mainly because he didn't know the answer anymore. He loved Kitt, but the look of hurt in Edvin's eyes was too much as well. Now that he had had them both. He really couldn't make a decision. "It doesn't matter anyway. Neither of them like me anymore."

"You don't know that. As I said, they just need time to cool down. Then they will be back so you can stick your di…"

He covered his ears. "I'm not hearing this."

Bickslow laughed. "What? I thought you liked scre…"

"LA LA LA! I can't hear you?" He said with his hands clamped over his ears. He refused to continue with this conversation.

He could hear his brother laughing in the background, much to his annoyance. At least someone was enjoying themselves over all of this. He just hoped that his brother was right, but would he truly be happy if lost either of them? No, he wouldn't.

"As much as I would love to tease you some more, we need to set up a date and time for this." His brother laughed.

He looked over the calendar. "I'm up for whatever. Just pick something. You're the one with a schedule."

He watched his brother look over the dates. "Fine than every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we will meet to train. Bring you A game little brother, you're going to need it."

With that he stood up. He needed to take care of some things. "Got it. Just pick me up when you finish speaking with Knud."

* * *

Lisanna giggled to herself as she finished icing a cake she was working on. Xenia was covered with food in her highchair, while Remy and Ivan watched.

"She just keeps getting bigger." Remy said. "Can't she just slow down a bit?"

She laughed again. "Kids tend to grow like weeds."

Ivan had walked up and removed her from the chair. "I think someone needs a bath." The little girl giggled in his arms as he tickled her. They left the room leaving Remy and her alone.

"How have things been with Bickslow? I know he is working a lot." As the former guild master of Raven Tail, he remembered how busy he used to be. But it was nothing compared to what his son did. He never had to deal with the Absolon Prime Minister on an almost daily basis.

"Things are good. We try and find time for each other. It's just a little chaotic, what with the impending war and having a child. His time is focused on the guild. My time is focused on our daughter." She sighed. Sometimes she wished she had her old husband back. Not that she was unhappy in her marriage. She just wanted Bickslow to be home more. She didn't know if she could mother another child and not have him home more often. Bickslow loved their daughter and he would love any child they had, but the lack of time that he had caused him to miss so much. Xenia's first word, her first steps, crawling, laughing, getting messy, and hours of playing. She had all of these memories, but her husband had missed all of those firsts.

"HOLY CRAP!" A yell came from down the hall, where Ivan was at.

Fear gripped her as she and Remy ran towards the bathroom, only to find Ivan pushed against the door.

Her daughter sat in the tub, clapping her hands together. Her red eyes a beautiful shade of purple.

She turned to Remy, who seemed to have tears in his eyes. "She's a shielder." He said in barely a whisper.

The shield faded and Ivan pulled himself off the floor. The baby's eyes returning to normal. "Looks like she got your ability first." Ivan said giving his lover a hug from behind.

She felt her eyes tear up. Here it was happening again. He was missing things again. She wished that someday her husband wouldn't have to miss anything. That this war would be over and they could focus on their family. Then they could all be happy.

* * *

"Did you really have to tell him that? We've been searching for hours." Edvin complained.

He growled. "If you're bored, I can continued this by myself."

"And let you have him all to yourself? No way. You fucked up with him. I believe I deserve a shot." The red head said.

He rolled his eyes. "You have a fiancé."

"Yes, but she means nothing to me. You already know this." The red head grabbed the door in front of them and opened it. They had checked everywhere they could think of, except for the place they were headed now. Vik was nowhere to be found. Now he wished he could turn back time, so he could stop him from running off. "How far is this apartment of yours?"

"It's not that far. Like I said, you don't have to go with me." He grumbled.

"Too bad. You're stuck with me." The other boy huffed.

They were lucky that the streets were kind of empty. It was a weekday after all. The citizens had already gone home from work, so everything was quiet. "Tell me, what is it about Vik that you like so much?" He had been wondering his for a long time.

The red head didn't look at him. Instead, ignoring his question. "Nice night we're having."

"Ed, answer the question." He sighed, opening the door to his apartment.

When he didn't answer again, he looked over to find the other boy blushing, well not just blushing. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. "You wouldn't understand."

He watched as the other plopped down on his couch and without thinking, he sat down next to him. "Try me."

"He doesn't treat me like everyone else." Edvin said looking down at the floor.

"What?" He said arching up an eyebrow in confusion.

The other boy sighed. "Everyone expects me to be a politician like my father. My entire life was planned out before I was born. I'm almost 18 and my parents are going on and on about me starting up a campaign for one of the smaller town governments. They want me to go from there to being in Parliament and eventually becoming the Prime Minister myself."

"So you don't want to be those things? What does that have to do with Vik?" He said, placing his hand on the other boy's knee, not realizing what he was doing.

Edvin shook a little, but continued. "Vik never treated me like I had some great big destiny. When we first met, he was fine with making out with me, even though he had no idea who I was. It wasn't until he was forced to meet Cecilia that he distanced himself from me. At the time, I was too young to know what I was feeling. We were just fooling around. We had only met twice, but I felt completely taken in by him. The way he looked at me was as if he was just doing that. Looking at me and only me. Not my father and all of his donors or my mother and her connections. Just me. That's all I wanted. And now I have to spend my life with a girl that I don't like, who does nothing but talk about how she wants to remodel everything for when I'm Prime Minister. That and her clothes. She can talk for days about what she wears and what she wants to wear, which equals out to me being bored and wishing I had been born to a different life with different parents."

He blinked a couple of times. Did Edvin really have it that hard? He had always disliked rich kids because he had to grow up with one. But that girl seemed to like the fact that her family had power. This was rather surprising. "Why haven't you told your parents the truth?"

Edvin looked up at him, it was the first time he had a good look at the other boy. He could see why Vik had found him attractive. It seemed like a sin for those beautiful green eyes too look so sad. "Like they would ever listen. I've tried plenty of times."

He didn't know what was coming over him, but he really wanted to kiss the other boy, but Vik wouldn't like that. Wasn't that the reason they were here? To find Vik. He wasn't supposed to be looking over the other boy and thinking these thoughts. Didn't he tell Vik to only think of him, but now he was doing the opposite.

Another thought whizzed through his mind, only this time it was the three of them. They way Vik dominated, Edvin's submitting, himself in the middle. His face turned red at the very idea. After kissing Vik, he knew he would be submissive to the other. But would he be submissive to Edvin? Probably not.

It was then that he realized where is hand was. And he wasn't the only one who seemed to notice. Edvin was looking at him in confusion. He told himself to back away. That this wasn't the time for this, but he couldn't stop himself. His body knew what it wanted and it was telling his brain that this was right, even when he knew it was wrong.

"Why do you like Vik?" Edvin asked. His eyes never leaving his.

He had to remember to breathe. This was good. Edvin was changing the subject. It could clear his mind of this. "He's my best friend. He's always there to cheer me up when I need it." His voice had faded into a whisper as Edvin leaned closer to him. "He knows how to make me laugh and he knows me inside and out." He began to feel himself getting lost in those green eyes. "He's beautiful, sometimes snobby and he smarts off a lot."

Edvin's eye quirked up. "That doesn't sound like Vik…"

He was right, it didn't. "I know." He watched the other boy smile. "I have an idea. It may be crazy, but it may be the only way."

"Only way for what?" They were only inches away from each other at this point.

"The only way that we can both have Vik." And with that he closed the gap, the other boy sighing into the kiss.

The first thing that he noted was how different it was. It wasn't that he disliked it, far from it. It was how the boy kissed that was different. Where Vik was fierce with his lips, Edvin was tentative. The longer they kissed the more he realized that his suspicions were correct. Edvin was a submissive. He would have to be the one to up the stakes and he did just that, sending his tongue along the other boy's bottom lip. Edvin gasped allowing him to force his tongue in to play with the other.

They stayed like that for a long time, kisses becoming touches as moans began to fill the apartment. He didn't know when the other boy's pants had become unzipped, but at some point he had force his hand down there and was doing unspeakable things to the redhead, making him groan against him.

The door opened and they froze in place. All they could do was look up at Vik as he stared down at them in shock.

To Be Continued….

 _Author's Note_

 _Why am I so mean? Really did I have to end it there? Kind of. It seemed like the best place to me. So what does this mean about their relationship? How is Vik going to react to Kitt's idea? Guess you'll have to read to find out._

 _Again, I'm still in the middle of moving. So chapters are coming out late. I also had internet problems that didn't help either. I should be all moved in by the end of next week and then hopefully. I can get back to a normal writing schedule._


	11. Chapter 11

"What the hell are you doing?!" Vik yelled as he entered the apartment. He could barely believe what he was witnessing. Edvin and Kitt were on the couch, but never would he have imagined them in a position like this.

"Vik, it's not what you think." Edvin said, quickly zipping up his pants.

"Like hell it isn't! What else could you be doing with his hand down your pants?!" He said pointing at Kitt.

Kitt blushed. "If you let us explain, you'll see that it isn't a bad thing really."

His face snapped to the blunette. "What needs explaining? It seems that the two of you have moved on together." He turned to leave livid with the scene he had just witnessed. Why did this have to happen? This was probably all of his fault anyway. He couldn't decide and they did that for him. "Have a happy life together." He said ready to head out the door.

Kitt's arm stopped him. "Hey, listen for five seconds and you'll understand everything."

He turned his head around to face the other, noting the sadness in the other's orange eyes. "Just make it quick. I have other things to do." It wasn't fully a lie. He had only come here to get some of his things. He planned to be in and out without Kitt even seeing him, only to get an eyeful.

Kitt sighed, grabbing his hand and leading him back to the couch. Edvin was still sitting on it, bearing a worried expression. "Now where do I even start?"

"If you're just going to ask questions like that, why am I here?" He tried to rise again, only this time both Kitt and Edvin stopped him, placing their hands down on his knees. He scrunched up his eyebrows. What were they doing?

Edvin was the first to pull away, sliding his hand through his hair. "What Kitt means to say is, we may know a way all of this could work."

He looked between the two of them confused. "How what would work?"

Kitt blushed. "The three of us."

"What about the three of us?" He said leaning back into his chair, he just wanted this to be over with. "Aren't the two of you still mad at me?"

Edvin shook his head. "No idiot. We've been looking for you all day." The boy sounded agitated.

"It didn't look like you were looking for me anywhere." He snapped.

"Vik, do you like both of us?" Kitt asked.

"What kind of question is that?" He retorted. What was with all of these questions anyway?

Edvin growled. "Just answer the question."

"How could I not! I wouldn't have done anything with either of you if I didn't!" To his disbelief, the two of them seemed rather happy with this.

"Then there is no problem." Kitt said with a cocky smile on his face.

He looked between the two of them in confusion. "What do you mean? That is a problem. I can't have both of you."

Edvin let out a chuckle. "You really think that?"

He blinked a couple of times. "Yeah, isn't that how a relationship works?"

This time Kitt laughed. "Not always. I was just showing Ed some of the benefits to this relationship really. Think about it Vik. How would you like to sleep with both of us at the same time?"

Kitt's words went straight to his groin. Was what the two of them offering really possible? How would a relationship like that even work? "We can't just have a relationship built on sex."

"Well duh, that's a given. Kitt and I were just getting to know each other. With time we can figure out what roles we play." The red head said leaning forward.

"But…" He really didn't know what to say. Were they really going to do this?

Edvin laughed. "No buts." The boy leaned in and gave him a kiss.

His eyes shut immediately, as his arms reached out to pull the other closer.

But Edvin pulled away as Kitt came next to him, the two of them dropping to their knees. Were they doing what he thought they were doing?

As soon as Kitt's hand came forward, he knew it was, as it landed on his knee and moved forward up his side. To his left, Edvin did the same. Their hands met in the middle. Right on top of his zipper.

* * *

He was so ready to get off the train. The others had gotten some form of sleep, but his mind was too active. The thought of being reunited with his family had his mind going in circles.

He still wanted to know why. Why had they pretended to be dead? Why did they put them all through this? They could have found a way to at least let them know they were safe. Mira wouldn't have had to go through so much grief. He wouldn't have had to take over Fairy Tail so early, as his grandfather couldn't hold things together after the "death" of his father and siblings. What excuse would Bickslow give him if he was alive?

He almost buzzed out of his seat as the train stopped. Not even looking back at his companions.

"Laxus, slow down. I know we need to find an inn but this city has plenty of them." Mira said giggling.

He didn't answer, his eyes were too focused on the city around them. It looked nothing like Era did. While the building back home were mostly brink based, these were tall structures with columns holding them up. Some looked to be made of wood, but most seemed to have a kind different kind of stone. Limestone maybe. The streets around them were rather busy as well. Era always seemed to be dead this time of night, what could these people be doing out this late?

Before any of his companions could say anything, he turned and asked a local. "What is going on?"

The man gave him a smile. "Parliament just let out. Voting ran late on out new budget."

He arched an eyebrow. "Why would it take so long to do that?" Fiore's spending was always decided by the king and the council. Everything was usually figured out in a matter of minutes.

"Well you know, every district has to state their business. What they want the money to go towards. Each area gets something out of it. It took so long, because a couple of the districts disagreed. They've gone on for months before making a budget." The old man said.

Well that was different. He had never heard of this before in his life. "Who is your King?" If he was willing to listen to the districts then he had to be generous.

The old man laughed. "Sonny, I don't know where you're from, but we don't have a King. We have a Prime Minister that was voted in."

"So you picked your leader?" It was Laki who had asked.

"Yeah, old Magnus Knud has been in office for a while now. I don't agree with him sometimes, but what can you do? The people continue to vote him in, so he isn't going anywhere." The man huffed a little at the end.

Freed gave him a look. "Why don't you like him?"

"Under Knud military spending has gone up, especially in the last three years. I fear that he as something in mind. War will come to Absolon." The man said sure of the fate of his country.

Mira gave him a sad smile. "How do you know that?"

"Young lady, there is only one reason that someone starts to build up their defenses and offenses. And then there is the part of the budget that looks like it's going nowhere. Money doesn't just disappear. Magnus has it going somewhere." The man said with a twinge of anger.

"Where could it be going?" He found himself hanging on every word. Warner warned the old hag about war. Whoever this man was, he was right. The Prime Minister wanted war just as much as King Fiore did.

"Who knows, all I know is that he asked for more today and most of the senate voted in favor of it." The man grumbled, looking them over. "But enough about Parliament, where are you from?"

He nodded. "We are here on holiday from Fiore."

The man gave him a smile. "If you need a place to stay, my wife and I own an inn. Names Fredrick Modd."

"Well if you're offering, we can't say no." Ever said, happy to have a place to stay fall in their lap. He wanted to argue, but at this point he was too tired. If only he had been able to sleep on that ghastly train.

* * *

He paced in his office. He had just received the news that he would be getting the money he needed, but that wasn't the reason he was agitated. He was expecting a call and the person was late.

He almost jumped as the phone rang. Hoping that it was the person he was waiting on.

"This better be important." He answered.

"It just took me awhile to get to a safe position. You know how people in this country are nosy." The female voice said through the receiver.

"Were you followed?" He asked, not wanting to take any chances.

"No, I'm up in the safe house that you provided. You have better taste than your father." She almost flirted.

"Keep your mind on your mission. We have a lot to lose if you fail." He kept his tone serious.

She giggled. "You're no fun."

"This is a high priority mission. If you are caught, it will jeopardize our guild and the oncoming war. I need you to stay vigilant." This is why he wanted to send someone else, but his father thought that she could handle it. Now he wished he had gone with his gut and sent someone better suited to this. Someone less suspicious.

"Don't worry Master Bickslow. Everything will be taken care of. You have my word." She said making him cringe a little. He didn't like the way she looked at him when she was there in person. He was sure that Lisanna would kill her given the chance.

"Just get the information to me, Flare. Just don't blow your cover." He almost growled.

The red head just giggled again. "Whatever you say Master."

* * *

Somehow they had gone from the living room to his bedroom. Kitt looked both to his left and his right, thinking how he should invest in a larger bed. Edvin was a sleep against his left side, almost smiling in his sleep. To his right, Vik looked spent, but he was still awake. He himself felt on the verge of sleep. His backside was swore but it wasn't that bad. Vik had tried to go easy on him, but he would ache regardless.

He let out a small whimper as Vik leaned into his neck, giving him small pecks up and down the sides of it.

"I never thought you would be this sensitive." The other boy said teasing him.

"I never thought I would want this." He whispered, leaning into the touch. Edvin stirred a little in his sleep. "We should probably wake him up if we are going to do anything."

He felt Vik smile against his neck. "As much as I love the thought of that, I'm spent and the two of you are swore."

He felt himself blush. "No…ummmm."

Vik chuckled in his ear, sending all of his blood south. "Do you want me again?"

He couldn't take it anymore, groaning as he captured the dominant lover's lips with his own. Vik may have said that he was tired, but from the way he was moving against him. He had to be lying.

Vik pulled his mouth away from his mouth and began to head down his ear and neck again. This time he couldn't stop the loud needy moan that passed his lips.

"You want me, Kitt?" And with that Vik's hand wondered down, touching him and giving away how aroused he was. "You really want me." Vik's biting down on his neck.

He cried out, waking Ed from his slumber. The red head gave him a groggy look, before giving him a small smile and moving closer.

To Be Continued….

Author's Note

So…they are officially a Threesome. I wonder how Vik's family is going to react to this. What about Edvin's parents? Seems lie Laxus and the other have landed in Absolon and they seem to have found themselves a friend. And Flare seems to have a thing for Bickslow, I hope Lisanna doesn't find out. She would rip her apart.


	12. Chapter 12

He was rather glad he didn't argue with that man. His home/inn was not only comfortable, but the man's wife sure could cook. He was kind of shocked that there was enough room for them all when he first met the man, but looking at the size of his house, he now understood how it was all possible. Mrs. Modd seemed to fawn over Laki, apparently they had never had any children and that's why they opened the inn. They would often let young couples stay here for cheap.

Fredrick was out first thing in the morning, so he didn't have any time to ask any questions. He didn't seem to work the inn at all. How did he earn his income?

"Don't worry about Fred, dear. His work is stressful, sometimes I wish he would retire, but with how things are, I seriously doubt it." The middle aged woman said, cleaning up after the large breakfast that Mira had helped her with.

"What does he do?" Mira asked, cleaning off the table.

The old woman giggled. "I'm surprised that he didn't tell you. My husband is the delegate for the capital."

Mira almost dropped the dishes she was holding, while he was kind of left in shock. The one person he had to run into was a member of parliament. "How long has he been in office?"

"Fred? He started campaigning around the same time as Magnus Knud did. They used to be friends years ago, but the two of them took different paths to power. Magnus got plenty of donations from very rich clients. His pockets are dirty, he even married into a donor's family just so he could get more status and money for himself. Then they had that boy of theirs." The woman frowned at that.

"What about Fredrick? How did he get to be a delegate?" Mira asked.

Mrs. Modd smiled. "Fred loves people, as you know he tends to look out for those in need. The donors want him out of office, but the people love him. No matter what they do, Fred's there to stay." The woman put the last of the dishes in the sink. "But enough about boring politics. Tell me more about that baby of yours." She said her focus now on Mira.

He couldn't help but smile as they launched into a conversation about their son. It was nice to talk about something positive before they went out and started looking. He still wouldn't tell them what they were really there for. There was no reason to get anyone's hopes up. They would go "sightseeing" and they would be none the wiser to what he was doing.

* * *

Last night, he didn't get the best greeting when he walked through the door. Lisanna was a little mad at him for being out so late, apparently he had missed Xenia showing off what her eyes were. He could have told her that it wasn't that much of a surprise. It had to be something different than his own and she would have a great teacher with his father.

Now, he sat back in his office, waiting once again. Magnus was late. He was supposed to bring him the reports for his new budget. Now that he had the money was approved, he could work on using it properly. They needed to replace equipment and uniforms, along with scouting more recruits. It would help set the stage. The war would be delivered at Magnus's feet quicker than expected.

As if on cue, Magnus punched in the code and was walking into his office. "Excuse my tardiness, I had a little problem to deal with." The man almost cringed as he passed him the file.

"Is this everything?" He said scanning through the file.

The man scrunched his nose. "Yes, I would have gotten here faster if it wasn't for Senator Modd. I swear, that man just needs to let go."

He offered the Prime Minister a seat. "Tell me, what problem can just one senator cause?" He almost chuckled to himself.

Magnus looked extremely annoyed. "He tried everything to keep this budget from passing. Everyone knows how important the rise in the military spending is. They've seen the intel from Fiore, thanks for providing that by the way." The man gave him a snide smile.

Strangely, he wasn't disgusted with Magnus. "Modd, is harmless. He just doesn't understand the gravity of the situation."

"He thinks that we could reach out to Fiore and try some peaceful negotiations. Not only that, his words have spread to the voters. I fear that he will cause much distress in the upcoming election." Magnus said, angrily.

As much as he wanted to rub the situation in Magnus's face, he needed the man to stay Prime Minister. "Does the man intend to run for your position?"

"From all of my sources, he has already started his campaign. If I don't put a stop to his actions, then everything will be discovered and the war, your revenge, all of this would be for nothing!" He could already hear the panic in the older man's voice.

Now this was a problem. Without Magnus, he couldn't keep running this from behind the scenes. He need access to the countries funds. Not only that, Raven Tail was entitled to their revenge. The King of Fiore needed to taken down at all costs.

' _What do you think we should do?'_ Cetus said in the back of his mind. He had almost forgot the presence of the demon that lurked there.

'That I don't know.' He thought back, receiving a chuckle.

' _I know what you wish to do. Go ahead and suggest it, the problem would just go away.'_ The demon's voice said tempting him.

'No problem goes away.' He thought back.

It laughed again. _'It does if it's timed right. Imagine, if you will, that our dear senator suffered a terrible accident right before we launched our plans for war. He would be out of the way and we would be back on track.'_

The way that Cetus spoke had him thinking. Was this senator's life that important? If he planned everything out, they could make it look like spies from Fiore were behind it. Modd would be out of the way and serve them at the same time. It was a win-win for them.

Before his conscience could catch up with him, he spoke his plan. "What if Senator Modd suffered an accident?"

He watched as Magnus's panic seemed to fade, an eerie smile edged onto his face. "What do you have in mind?"

He crossed his arms, smirking to himself as he did so. "All we need to do is make sure that the public thinks Fiore is behind the attack. If we do that, all of our bases are covered." He couldn't stop the wicked grin that was spreading across his face.

In the back of his head, he could hear Cetus cheering him on. _'You see, you want to do this.'_

He couldn't argue. What was on the line was more important than just some man's ideals. He wouldn't sacrifice all of their work. They had worked too hard for that. He had worked too hard for that.

* * *

His parents looked to be out of the house. Now that he was looking at the time, he could tell that they must have gone out for a little bit, probably to get some groceries or something like that.

Today he wasn't alone though, he had no idea how they would react to Kit and Edvin both being in the house nor would was he looking forward to their thoughts concerning their very unorthodox relationship.

Edvin was laying on his stomach looking through one of his books, while Kitt had gone sitting on the floor, next to him. Looking over his shoulder at the book, Ed was flipping through.

"When are they going to get back? I'm starving." Ed said, finally putting the book down.

He leaned against the closet door. "I don't know. Just be patient."

Kitt raised his hand. "I could always make something." He offered.

He shook his head. "Papa would he angry if we messed around in his kitchen."

Kitt gave him a smile. "I was talking about making us a meal, but if you want to try doing it in the kitchen in my apartment…"

He almost face palmed. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Too late." Kitt laughed. "I'll just save the idea for later."

"You know saying stuff like that will never get my parents to agree to this." He almost snapped.

This time Ed was the one that laughed. "I don't think your parents are the ones we need to worry about. Just wait until my mother hears about this. I swear to you that she will faint."

"Are you going to tell them that the three of us are together or are you just going for the roommate angle?" Kitt asked, placing his hand on the small of the redheads back.

The boy let out a small gasp. "The roommate deal should be fine for now."

"What about Cecilia? Your fiancé." He asked, gaining himself a frown from the redhead.

"I want to call it off, but I don't think my parents will let me at this point. Her family is loaded and all they see is dollar signs." Ed sighed.

He nodded, his last encounter with Mrs. Knud wasn't a fond memory for him. She seemed more focused on etiquette than whether her guests were happy.

"Fuck'em, it's your life." Kitt said, not taking his hand off of the other boy.

"You try telling your parents that you're going to go against everything they ever wanted and tell me how that works out for you!" Edvin said, pushing himself up and away from Kitt.

Kitt lifted his hands up, in front of him. "Come on man, chill. I was just saying that you should do what you want to do."

"What I want to do, huh." Edvin said with a cunning smile on his face.

He knew where this was going. "As much as I would like to watch you two go at it. I don't think my parents would appreciate it if we did that here."

"You know as well as I do that they'll be fine with it." Kitt said standing up. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to raid the fridge. There has to be something down there that we can have without destroying Ivan's kitchen."

The blunette was out the door and down the stairs before he could stop him. He was about to make his way out the door, when Edvin pulled himself up and passed by him, following Kitt down the stairs.

When he finally made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen, he almost cursed as he noticed the number of pots and pans on the counter. "What are you doing?!"

He turned his head to find Edvin in the fridge. "How many eggs do you need?"

"I don't know. Vik, how many eggs do you want?" Kitt asked tossing a pan on the stove.

"You're making breakfast? Its half past noon." He said quirking his eyebrows upward.

"Why not, it's the least messy. We can cook, eat, and clean up before your parents get home." Kitt said, looking around for something. "Do you have any butter?"

Before he could answer, Ed dropped some off on the counter, along with the carton of eggs. "Anything else?"

Kitt gave the redhead a devilish smile. "Maybe later."

He almost groaned. Were the two of them going to be this horny from now on? Rolling his eyes, he set himself, to start putting away the mess that Kitt had already created.

It didn't take Kitt long, eggs didn't take long to make anyway, but he still worried that his parents would come home and his dad wasn't the friendliest when it came to other people in his space. Even Lisanna was kicked out from time to time.

"Hey Vik, where are the plates at?" Ed asked, while he was spacing out.

"What?" He asked still a little out of it.

"The plates…Where are they? Or are we going to have to eat with our hands?" The redhead joked with him.

"Oh, over there." He said pointing at the cabinet.

Now that he was watching the two of them, he could see how this could work. Kitt seemed comfortable making food. Ed seemed to know what Kitt needed and he didn't even realize that he had started cleaning up before they were done. Heck, now that he was looking down, he could see that he was washing the pan that Kitt had used.

Kitt on the other hand was looking putting some bread in the toaster, while Ed had ran off into the dining room with the plates and some forks. Followed by some butter and jam. He guessed that he was setting the table.

He wiped his forehead as he looked over the kitchen. He had kept it clean, that was the important thing.

Leaving for the dining room, he almost ran into Kitt's back in the doorway. "Why did you stop, Kitt?" He felt his stomach drop, maybe his parents were home.

Kitt's hand came up, the one without the plate full of eggs and toast. "He set the table."

Well yeah, he already knew that. "That's no reason to stop….." His voice trailed off when he saw the table. He knew Edvin grew up rich, but he never guessed that the boy had ever set a table in his life. He was wrong. Everything was set up perfectly. Hell, the boy even put a different table cloth on and folded the cloth napkins his parents had for special occasions on their plates. And they weren't just folded down the center. He head folded them in some fancy design.

The redhead blushed as he caught their stares. "Oh…do you not like it?"

He blinked a couple of times. "No, its fine. We just weren't expecting it to look so fancy."

This time Ed cocked his head to the side. "This is fancy?"

"How the hell do people set the table where you're from that makes this not fancy?" Kitt said, putting down the plate of food.

If anything Ed blushed even redder. The boy must have felt a little out of place. He wasn't used to casual dining after all. He guessed he needed to get the boy's mind off of his embarrassment.

He walked over and planted a kiss on the redhead's forehead. "It looks great Ed, let's eat."

Ed looked up at him, nodding as the three of them finally sat down.

They spent most of their time eating, making jokes back and forth, sometimes getting stuck on random topics. Surprisingly, Kitt knew a lot more about politics than he thought.

"Why aren't you studying to be a politician?" He asked. He never knew the blunettes interest in the subject.

"Because I would rather be a mage. Besides, working in politics looks like it would be a boring job." Kitt snapped back.

"Not to mention all of the people watching your every move." Ed said, leaning back in his chair with a frown. Maybe they should change the subject. "So what about you Ed? What do you want to do with your life?"

The redhead seemed to freeze up at that question.

"Come on, you can tell us." Kitt said leaning back in his own chair.

Kitt looked up from his plate. "Well, I've never thought about it. My future was planned from the moment I was born. So, I don't know. I know I don't want to do what my father does, but I really have no clue."

He let out a sigh. "I wasn't really given a choice either, in the beginning."

He felt both sets of eyes fall on him. "Speaking of which, I don't think I've ever heard a story about your childhood ever. I bet Ed and you have some good ones." Kitt said laughing.

"No, I didn't meet Vik till we were around 14. But you've never told me anything about your childhood either. What was it like to grow up with two dads?"

Now it was his turn to freeze up. He didn't want to answer this question. He wasn't ready to face their reactions to it. "So who wants to go out for dessert? I think I can get some extra money…"

"Vik, why won't you tell anything about when you were a kid?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, there's no reason to be so secretive about it." Kitt said leaning forward.

"Can we please change the subject?" He asked, but both of them shook their heads.

"I don't see the problem, your parents are awesome. Growing up with them couldn't have been that bad." Ed started.

"That's because I didn't grow up with them!" He snapped. "There happy. You've discovered the huge mystery. Congratulations!"

Both of them looked at him in shock. "Why weren't you with them? You're their son." Ed asked, apparently they wanted more information.

He almost growled. "They didn't have much of a choice in the matter. The same goes for my brother too. I wasn't with them until about a week before I met Ed."

Both boys continued to look at him in disbelief. "But how?"

"Because they didn't know I existed until then. There happy?!" He just wanted his conversation to be over with. The two of them looked floored. He knew he had said that he said too much. This wasn't the right time to talk about this. "So can we please change the subject?"

With that both of them nodded, he figured that they had to be speechless.

But they had no time to say anything, as he heard the front door open. He felt himself start to get up from the table. It was time to introduce his parents to both of his boyfriends. He wondered how they would take it.

To Be Continued….

 _Author's Note_

 _So Ed and Kitt are closer to finding out about Vik's past, but not by much. Bickslow is becoming a lot darker than he was in the first story, but after living with a demon in his body for 3 years and being in the position that he is in, it's easy to see how he's starting to be corrupted._


	13. Chapter 13

He had frozen in place. Both of his parents were home, he could hear them talking in the front room.

The eyes of both of his boyfriends looked up at him. Almost questioning him, wondering what his next move would be.

He let out a sigh as they finally walked into the kitchen. He couldn't read what the two of them were thinking.

Their first observations would be that there were two people in that house that didn't live there. Under normal circumstances, a parent wouldn't question such a thing, but he had a history with both of the boys in the room. Neither could just be explained as just friends.

Their second observation would be the state of the dining room. Not only did Edvin decorate it, but the dirty plates would bring up the question of how the kitchen was used.

His body stiffened as his father gave him a once over. "Vik, did you use the kitchen?"

He looked away from his father quickly, as his dad left to look over the possible mess.

Remy crossed his arms and sighed. "You know that you're just as useless as I am in there."

Before he could stop him, Kitt had to make his presence known, well more than he already was. "Vik wasn't the one cooking." The boy blushed. "I was."

At that, his dad almost stomped out of his kitchen. "You used my kitchen without permission." He could already hear the anger in his dad's voice. He knew the man liked his personal space.

Across the room, Edvin twittled his thumbs. "Vik did try and stop us, but we were tired of waiting for you to return."

His face snapped over to the redhead, didn't he say that they needed to ease their way into his conversation? Now they were sure to ask questions.

As if on cue, his father tilted his head to the side. "Why were you waiting for us? I know that Ivan can cook, but you could have told us that there was going to be company. You didn't have that long to wait anyway."

Ivan almost growled. "You may have kept it clean, but I still don't appreciate the intrusion."

Vik almost glared at the redhead and the blunette. Both of them giving him skittish looks.

His father let out a cough. He could feel both of their eyes on him now. They weren't stupid, looking at them now, he could tell they were using their mental link.

"So, Edvin, I didn't expect to see you over here." His father said, not blinking.

Oh, this was bad. Really bad. His father only got that look when he was interrogating people.

Edvin though just shrugged and he felt light headed. The boy had no idea what kind of hole he was digging himself.

His father looked over the redhead again and he could tell that the gears were turning. Remy had never forgiven Edvin for his actions all those years ago. It must have been confusing to have the boy in his house.

Secretly, he hoped that his father would keep all of his questions directed at the redhead, but he could already see his father's intentions. As his eyes were now on Kitt. He was going to go around the room and ask until he got an answer and knowing the blunette, he didn't stand a chance. The cat was going to be out of the bag.

"Kitt, why is Edvin here?" For some reason, his father looked a little remorseful towards the water mage. Perhaps, his father liked Kitt, but why was he pitying him?

Kitt just leaned back in his chair with a wild grin on his face. He groaned, he knew what was coming. The boy had a lack of filter sometimes.

"He's fucking your son." Kitt said point blank, putting his hands behind his head and propping his feet up on the table.

He face palmed as Edvin blushed. He couldn't look at his parents, but they probably had their mouths gaped open in shock or where glaring at him in disapproval.

"Viktor Resus! Explain yourself!" His father sounded enraged.

He snapped his eyes over to his dad, but found no sympathy there either. "Like you have any room to talk." He said under his breath. He was readying himself so that he could bolt out the door, when his father grabbed his arm.

"You're not running this time Viktor. Now sit and explain." He caught his father eye. He looked livid.

They already knew he was gay, so why were they so mad? "This is not a big deal." He said quietly. "Do you not like Edvin?"

The other boy shifted in his seat, not answering. Probably embarrassed at how he was being the center of attention and ignored at the same time.

His father placed his hands on his hips. "That's not the issue."

"What about Kitt? I thought you liked him?" Ivan asked, looking slightly confused, probably by how happy go lucky Kitt was.

Kitt laughed in his chair. "He's screwing me to."

"Kitt!" Both he and Edvin jumped on him this time.

"What? We were planning on telling them anyway, why delay the inevitable?" The water mage said, smarting off.

Behind him he heard a loud thud, be spun to find his dad on the floor. The man must have fainted.

"Ivan!" His father was down on the floor in seconds, checking his dad's vitals.

He looked down at the ground, all of this was his fault.

His dad came to, in a matter of minutes, but the room remained quiet. No one was really willing to speak anymore. Even Kitt had shut his mouth.

He could see both of his parents, looking at him. Neither looked angry anymore, but they still seemed at odds with the idea.

Remy sighed. "So my son is a man whore."

He blinked, before breaking out into laughter. Is that what they really thought?

"Viktor, this is no laughing matter! What if you get a disease of some sort?" Ivan said irritated with his amusement.

"But how can he get something if he's only with me and Kitt?" He hadn't expected for the redhead to say anything.

"Wait, wait. Hold the phone here. What are you saying?" Remy asked, looking perplexed.

He took a deep breath. It was now or never. "We are kind of in a three way relationship."

His parents looked at him as if he grew two heads. "You're what?"

Kitt laughed again. "The three of us are bumping uglys."

"How does that even work?" Ivan seemed at a loss.

This time they all shrugged. "We're figuring that out." Kitt answered.

His parents glanced between him and the other two boys. Finally, his father smiled. "Are you happy, Vik?"

He stood there shocked, were they really going to accept this? "Yes."

Ivan sighed, placing a hand behind his head. "I guess there is nothing we can do about it. If it's what you want, we are fine with it."

He couldn't believe it, they were going to accept this. "I told you that you were fine." Kitt said.

His eyes found Edvin, who seemed to relax a bit, but he knew that this was only the beginning for the redhead. The next part would be incredibly difficult. Maybe it would be better if they did just say that they were roommates. Prime Minster Knud and his wife didn't look like they were people to be crossed.

To his surprise, his father walked up to Edvin. But instead of looking wary, he seemed to understand the situation. "If you need someone to talk to, Ivan and I always will always have an open home."

The boy nodded nervously. "I just don't want them to hate me."

"If they truly love you, then they could never hate you." His father said. "Now, why don't the three of you go upstairs for a bit Ivan can work on a large dinner for all of us? Lisanna and Xenia will be over as well."

He raised an eyebrow. "What about Bickslow?"

His dad sighed. "He's just been so busy lately. He'll be around more once all of this is over with."

He almost felt a little guilty. He had made plans with Bickslow to train tomorrow. The fact that his brother had not been spending time with his family was disheartening to say the least. Maybe he could talk to him about it.

"But enough about that, get upstairs, but no funny business. I don't want to hear any strange noises before dinner." His father said with a smile on his face.

With that the three of them bolted up the stairs. All three happy for being accepting for who they were.

* * *

Remy leaned against the counter, while Ivan prepared dinner. While he was happy for his youngest son, even though the situation was strange, he was still annoyed with his older child.

Over the last three years, Bickslow had become more distant than he liked them to be. He rarely came by to see him or Ivan, nor did he spend time with Vik. His own wife had trouble pulling him away from work and while he fawned over Xenia, he had missed a great deal of her life. He thought that the boy would have learned from his and his father's mistakes and stayed there for everything.

"You know if you frown too long, your face will stay that way." Ivan joked.

He sighed. "I'm just worried."

"Vik seems to be fine. I don't understand it, but who are we to judge. I mean look at us." Ivan said.

He looked up. "I'm not worried about Vik. It's the other one that has me on edge."

Ivan sighed. "That we can agree on. It just not the same that it used to be, ever since he merged with that demon."

He looked down at the floor. "If we were paying better attention, Phineas never would have been caught."

Ivan pulled his chin up. "You know as well as I do that there was nothing we could have done. Bickslow acted without consulting us."

He looked up into his lovers eyes. "But it happened. He's our child. It was our job to protect him, not the other way around."

"Again, there was nothing we could do. We didn't have time to even talk with him. Remember what we were planning to do. Now that I think back on it, none of us were thinking clearly." Ivan pointed out.

He gave his husband a small frown. "Yeah, we should have planned better just in case we were found."

"We got cocky, we did evade Fiore for over 20 years. But we can't focus on the past, Remy. We have to move forward." Ivan said, giving him an endearing smile.

He leaned his head forward, kissing Ivan's forehead. No matter what happened. Ivan always seemed to know how to make him feel better. "You're right. I think I'm going to have a talk with Bickslow tomorrow."

"That's probably a good idea." Ivan said giving him a kiss.

He leaned back into the counter, smirking into the kiss as a strong smell hit his nose. His eyes flashed open at the same time that Ivan pulled away.

"Shit!" He could tell that the food on the stove had burned. He smirked to himself. It had been a long time since Ivan had burned anything. It was such a rare occurrence that when it did happen, teasing the other was a give in.

"Dear, I don't really like my meat well done." He snickered under his breath.

Ivan growled. "Note taken, Dear….so is rare good for you?" He said, snapping a little.

He just smirked. "Only in the bedroom."

He loved catching his lover off guard, as his words had caused Ivan to drop his knife and blush. "You and your dirty mind."

"You know you love it." He said, watching Ivan try and regain his composure. Ivan snorted and jumped as he came behind him and embraced him. "What would I do without you?"

"Probably die." Ivan said sarcastically.

He frowned, knowing that was really the case. Ivan and he couldn't live without each other. It was one of the hardest facts about their relationship. That when the day came, both of them would leave their families behind forever. He just hoped that before that day, he could help Bickslow see the light again.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

 _We are finally going to be getting back into the meat of the story. Next time look forward to Ivan and Remy being back in the action and some training between Bickslow and Vik._


	14. Chapter 14

He chuckled to himself as he got out of bed, today was the day. Lisanna was still asleep as he stared at the clock. It was early, the sun wasn't even out yet.

He had gotten home late last night and the two them had an argument again. She wanted him around more, but he just couldn't do that. Not now, when they had so much to lose.

She wouldn't be pleased about tonight either. His meetings ended early today and while she had said something about it, he had more important things to be doing at the moment.

Learning how to control that side of himself, would turn the tides of the oncoming war. It was the same with the other weapons as well, they all needed to take the next step or be crushed by the enemy.

He chuckled to himself over the news that he received yesterday concerning his brother. He would have to tease the other later.

Heading downstairs quietly, as not to disturb his wife and child, he got himself a cup of coffee for the road and was out the door before anyone could stop him.

A deep fog was covering the city, making it so that you couldn't see down the winding streets. The town was normally dead at this time anyway. So he wouldn't be disturbed.

As he walked, he thought over everything that was at stake. His family may not like what he was doing, but he was doing it all for them.

' _Are you really?'_ Cetus said in the back of his mind.

He rolled his eyes, part of him had hoped that the demon had slept a little longer before waking up. 'Yes, really.' He thought back, not wanting to argue with himself this early. It would only give him a headache later.

Cetus only laughed. _'Try telling yourself that, if it makes you feel better. I know the truth.'_

He snarled, but didn't respond. There more important things he could be doing and talking with the demon wasn't on the top of his list.

' _How are we going to go after Modd? Do you have a plan for that?'_

After all of the arguing last night, he had forgotten about the delegate's demise. How could he have forgotten about the man that was trying to stand in his way?

'I thought that we were going to wait until we got closer to our goal?' He asked the demon.

It laughed in the back of his mind _. 'Well, we don't need him getting too much support. If we wait too long, he will have body guards and the media will be all over him. We must strike soon, it will be easier to frame Fiore for the attack.'_

He found himself agreeing with the monster. 'I don't think I can trust anyone from Raven Tail to do this for us.' He said, not realizing how he was speaking to the demon.

' _Us?'_ It chuckled.

He scoffed. "The guild, my family." He didn't mean to say it out loud, but no one walked the streets, so no one could hear him anyway.

' _What about them? We were talking about the power we would get from this move. You and I.'_ The demon said twisting his words.

'That doesn't matter.' He almost yelled inside of his head.

The demon only cackled. _'Doesn't it?'_

* * *

About mid-day he got a knock on his office door, which was odd. Magnus wasn't scheduled to come by, nor did he have an appointments with guild members.

He heard the door code punch in and door opened only for him to find his father on the other side of the door. Noting the grave look on his face. This wouldn't be good.

"Hey old man. What are you doing here?" He asked, trying to at least start this conversation off on the right foot.

His father continued to glare at him. "I just came for a visit." The man said walking in and taking a seat in one of the chairs lose to his desk.

He watched as his father crossed his arm before speaking again. "Um…okay. Did you and dad get into a fight or something?"

His father gave him a scowl. "No, Ivan and I are fine. But you wouldn't know that. You haven't been around to see anything, have you?"

Now it was his turn to glare at his father. "You know that I'm busy." He started but was interrupted.

"What about Lisanna and Xenia?" His father almost hissed.

"Like I said, I've been busy. Organizing a war isn't easy old man, I would think that you of all people would know that." He smarted back, irritated.

Looking down at his desk, he filed one of the papers he was working on, before grabbing another, just as his father slammed his fist on the desk. "Have you learned nothing?"

"What are you going on about? I have a job to do." He said, 'Who does he thing he is?' He thought to himself.

"Ivan and I would give anything to go back and watch the two of you grow up. Don't push your family away when they are so close to you." His father said, his voice straining from trying to hold back his anger.

"Yeah and what were you doing for those 20 some years?! Ever since I took over, we have been getting closer to our goal!" He snapped.

He watched as his father looked at him stunned. "Do you really think that Ivan and I did nothing? We gave you up for your safety."

The chuckle that came out felt foreign to his lips. "And look how far you got. The two of you should have been doing what I've been doing for years. Then you could have stopped Fiore faster. Instead of waiting all of that time, you could have been on the attack from the start!"

His father looked like he had been stung. "Where is this coming from?"

"You can either sit there and ask dumb questions or leave. I have a lot to finish up today." He said, standing up and grabbing a file that had just appeared in his inbox.

His father stood up, giving him a sad look. "When you get your priorities right, come and find me."

He watched his father leave without a word.

His phone rang and he couldn't help but smirk. He could go for some acknowledgement right now.

"Code name and what do you have for me?" He said into the receiver, waiting patiently for her response.

" _You've never been this happy to talk to me, Master_." She said on the other line, giggling to herself.

"If you don't have a code name then I can't answer your call." He said trying to be stern with her, but found that he couldn't, so it came out almost as if he was playfully teasing her. At least someone was happy to talk with him.

She giggled again. _"Crimson locks, Master."_

He smiled into the receiver. "Okay, Crimson. What do you got for me?"

" _How about the entire schedule of all of Fiore's events. I was able to get into their databases and extract what times the King will be out of the country."_

Now this was interesting. They could easily form a plan of attack from that. "Does anyone suspect you?" He asked, wanting to make sure that the information was correct and secure.

She giggled. _"No, no one suspects me of anything. They either see me as the crazy girl from the grand magic games or a poor soul that Raven Tail threw away. If only they knew the truth."_

He laughed into the phone. "Give it time. They will know everything and more."

She seemed satisfied with his answer. _"How much more do you need?"_

"That should be enough. Get back here safely." He stated, smiling to himself. She had proven to be a lot more helpful than he thought she would be.

" _Till then, Master."_ She almost said seductively over the phone.

The receiver went dead and he chuckled to himself.

' _She seems to understand what you are doing._ ' Cetus said in the back of his mind.

He shook his head. "I'm a taken man, Cetus. Flare is just doing her job."

' _Yes, you are a taken. But that doesn't mean that you can't appreciate a fine piece of…'_

"Enough. She works for me, nothing more." He stated firmly to the demon.

The demon stayed quiet as he walked over to the door. His time here was done. He had to find Vik. They need to train.

* * *

He sat there uncomfortable. Kitt and Edvin were headed off to the Capital Building and here he was waiting for his brother to show up.

Part of him felt guilty because he couldn't go with them, as Edvin wanted to get out of that house as soon as possible.

But he couldn't see his boyfriend coming out to his parents anytime soon. It would probably be a couple of years before he did that.

Just as he was about to give up, the town clock let its long and loud chime and his brother materialized in front of him.

"I was just thinking that you wouldn't show." He said.

His brother laughed, he looked to be in a good mood. "Like I would miss something like this. You ready to go?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Speaking of that, where are we going?"

His brother laughed. "You'll see. Do you still get motion sickness from teleporting?"

He shook his head. He had gotten over that a long time ago.

"Good." His brother held out his hand. "Let's get going."

He took his brother's hand and they disappeared in a flash. When they reappeared he looked around. He couldn't believe it. How was this even possible?

"I don't…I don't understand." He said looking around the massive cavern.

Bickslow only chuckled. "It took a lot of work, but Warner and I got this cleared out."

"But it was destroyed. The blast made it implode." He looked around the cave that he once called home. The old guild hall didn't look any different than it did back then. It was like stepping into a dream.

"As I said, Warner and I just couldn't let go of this place. Carma helped out a little bit. We figured that if it's going to sit empty, the least we could do is use it to our advantage." Bickslow bragged, walking down the old stairwell.

"But you got it to look just like it used to." He still couldn't wrap his mind around it.

His brother laughed. "Well I did live here a lot longer than you did. Now we didn't come here to look at the walls. We came here to train."

He nodded as he thought over what he needed to do to enter that state.

"Don't over think it. Don't fear it. Just let it come forward." His brother said.

He took a deep breath, letting his mind go blank. The only thing he couldn't help was the fear. His brother had used his weapon side before, but he had never had it control his life. He never had the monster within fully control him. He had never had to kill innocent people like he had.

Just as that last thought entered his mind, he heard a dripping noise. He opened his eyes, only to find blood dripping from the ceiling. He knew this place. He had been here most of his life.

This was the place of nightmares, the place he hoped that he would never return to. The controlling voice from before was speaking again. It's voice bouncing off the walls.

He placed his hands over his ears, trying his best to block out the noise.

"Stop that!" His brother's voice broke through the barrier and the darkness around him crumbled.

"What did I do?" He asked, blinking at Bickslow as he looked on in disapproval.

"You gave into your fear. You can't let that fear control you." His brother said seriously.

"But…" He tried to argue.

"No buts. If you give into fear, the darkness will control you. You need to learn how to control it." Bickslow stated.

"That's easier said than done. You can't get past it either." He said angrily.

But his brother only laughed. "That is true, but the more I push, the better I become. You can do the same if you practice."

He shook his head. "You don't see what I see. You don't have to look at the damage you've done."

He expected a frown, but no, his brother just stood there, like he was expecting more. "Is that all?"

He looked up at his brother confused. "I see the blood of all of the people that I have killed. It's not easy to walk away from that."

"Those deaths were not yours. You were made to kill those people." His brother said crossing his arms.

"How is that going to be any different from what we will be doing in the war? All of those people that we will be cutting down, while being under Magnus's thumb. It's the same thing Bickslow and don't try and tell me that it's not." His brother looked him over, almost as if he was judging him. "You know you can say what you're thinking out loud. You always spend so much time talking to that demon. You even talk to Cetus more than your own wife." He pushed.

His brother didn't even cringe. "Well I do share a body with him. So of course I would spend more time with him."

"Could you show some emotion? You're missing out on your life."

His brother scowled. "Not you too. Our father already had this talk with me today."

"And it looks like you didn't listen." He argued.

His brother's eyes flashed. "Look, I'm busy. What about that does everyone not understand."

"You had time to clear out this place…"

"Yeah, because we need it for training. It wasn't free time. I put in a lot of hours because someone has to. We won't get an edge over Fiore by doing nothing." His brother said as his eyes switched over.

His brother's eyes were always naturally red, but it was a brighter color. This red…it reminded him of blood. "Bickslow, calm down." He began, as he backed away in fear.

"Unlike you, I have learned how to control myself like this. It may only be for 30 minutes, but it's one step closer to complete control." His eye flashed back to their normal lighter red. "Learn how to control yourself, Vik. It may be our only chance."

He nodded almost fearfully and decided not to say anything to upset his brother again. He would learn how to control himself, but not for his brother's war. It would only be for his own sanity.

To Be Continued….

 _Author's Note_

 _So the plot is finally moving along again. Looks like Bickslow is in hot water with Remy, Lisanna, and I expect Ivan. Vik doesn't seem to be on his side either. I really missed the cave, so I thought that it would be perfect to bring it back in its fixed state. Bickslow is walking a very narrow path right now._

 _Another note to the readers, we have an official update day again. It's nice to actually have a normal schedule again. So this story will update on Wednesdays moving forward._


	15. Chapter 15

A week had come and gone and he had seen no sign of Raven Tail anywhere. Looking over at his wife and friends, he was starting to think that the old hag had just dreamed up Warner's existence.

At the moment, Mira and Laki were making funny faces for the camera, while Elfman and Ever argued. Freed seemed to be calm for once. At least getting away from the guild did some good.

"Mrs. Modd said that she was going to make a local specialty for dinner tonight." Freed said making small talk.

He just nodded, he couldn't really focus on conversation. He just couldn't see the old woman having a dream that clear about a member of Raven Tail, how could she just pull that name out of nowhere and use it?

As he looked away from Freed, he could see someone walking down the road towards them. Whoever it was, they seemed distracted. She seemed to be carrying a baby.

As the woman looked up and locked eyes with him, he knew it immediately. It was Lisanna.

The others remind distracted as she ran into an alley and out of sight.

He stood up quickly. "I'm going to go for a small walk."

"I'll join you if you want." Freed offered.

He nodded, it was time that someone else knew why they were really here anyway.

As he walked up to the alley, he almost dragged Freed out of the street. "Laxus, why are we going down here? The main road is…"

"We don't have time for that right now." He made off into a run.

Freed followed him, looking perplexed. "Where are we going?"

He didn't look back. "Keep your eyes peeled. You may see a face from the past."

Freed didn't stop. "We came out here for more than just a vacation didn't we?"

He didn't have time to answer Freed. He swore he could smell Lisanna. She couldn't hide from him. She had a baby with her, so she couldn't transform.

They made their way through a busy street, full of street dealers and tourists. He clicked his tongue in irritation. "She can't hide from us forever. She'll have to come out at some time."

"Who is this she?" His friend asked, curious to know who they were after.

"Lisanna." As soon as the name left his lips, could feel Freed's judgmental stare.

"Laxus, you know that Lisanna is dead." Freed said flatly.

"From what we were told." He didn't even look at the other, he was too busy monitoring the streets.

"Where did you even get such information?" Freed asked, he didn't have any emotion in his voice. Like he wasn't going to let himself hope.

But he didn't have time to answer the green haired mage. He caught her going down a different alley. Her hair was still shorter than Mira's but it had grown out some. The baby she was holding could only be Bickslow's.

Now that he thought about it. She could have easily lost him in the crowd. She wanted them to follow her.

He broke through the crowd and was surprised when they turned around a corner, coming face to face with beautiful house. He watched the door creak open and she placed her hand outside of the door, motioning for him to come in.

He turned to look at Freed, who looked beyond shocked. "Do you believe me now?"

His friend nodded and they made their way to the door.

The door opened easily. Letting him into a simple family home. Nothing too fancy, but they looked far from poor.

His eyes found a set of pictures sitting on a table. He could clearly see Lisanna, the baby, Bickslow, his father, that Remy guy, and the former assassin. The assassin looked mad that his hair was being ruffled by his father.

There were a bunch of pictures of the baby all over the table. He couldn't help but smile at the girl's white hair and red eyes. At least he hoped it was a niece. He didn't think that Lisanna would put a dress on a boy.

The door behind them closed and they came face to face with the white haired female.

"How did you find us?" She said, looking worried.

Freed looked speechless. Like he couldn't believe that he was right.

"The old hag from Lamia Scale ran into two members of Raven Tail. From there I figured that all of you had to be up here. Hiding from us." He said, slightly angry.

She looked down sadly. "We weren't given much choice. After the guild was destroyed it was the only way to stay in hiding."

"So how did you end up here? This house is rather nice for someone that is in hiding." He stated. He had to know everything, it was the only way he could deal with them putting them all through so much grief.

The baby cried and she made to walk away, he grabbed her arm to stop her, but she glared at him. "You'll have your answers, Laxus. If you and Freed make yourselves comfortable in the living room, I will be back in a minute. I left my daughter in her high chair."

He let her go, remembering what happened the last time they had tried to hold Lisanna down. He could not have her running off again. If he scarred her, she would be off like a rabbit.

It only took her a couple of minutes, she returned, baby in hand. She set the girl on the floor with a small container of snacks.

He watched the child as it played on the floor for a second. She looked like her mother, but those eyes were her fathers.

"Where is Bickslow?" He asked, turning his attention to Lisanna, who had sat across from them.

"He's in his office working. Even I rarely see him these days." She sighed and he could hear the frustration in her voice.

Freed almost laughed and they both turned to glare at him. "What? The idea of Bickslow working an office job is unimaginable."

"He's the guild master for Raven Tail now." She pipped up.

Now that got his attention. "I thought my old man and his friend were?" He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that his father was gay. He didn't know either of them real well, so it was hard to even think of them as family.

She gave him a smile. "Ivan and Remy retired. They mostly train new recruits now." She giggled. "They got married as well."

He blinked a couple of times. "How?"

"It's legal here. It was less than a year after the guild was destroyed." She seemed to like having him be uncomfortable. "They're happy."

He nodded, wanting to change the subject. "So, you said that Bickslow is the guild master."

Her smile faded. "Yeah, he's so busy with everything."

That was confusing to him. He always had a lot of free time, even with all of the letters of destruction that he got from Team Natsu. "What is he doing?"

Lisanna almost burst into tears. His heart almost stopped as she said the words that made his world go black. "He's planning a war."

* * *

Ivan watched as Remy paced again. His husband had not told him how his conversation with their son had gone. But from how he was acting, it couldn't be good.

"Remy, you're wearing a hole in the floor." The other stopped to look down at the floor and then over to him.

His lover sighed. "I'm sorry Ivan. I'm just a little pissed off."

He gave him a grin. "I can tell. Now sit down and tell me what's wrong."

Remy gave him a sad look as he sat down. "I think my talk with him only made things worse."

"How so?" Ivan said, taking his lover's hand encouragingly.

"All I did was distance myself from him. I can't believe that he has forgotten who he was. He doesn't feel like my son anymore." His lover tried to look down, but he could tell that he was on the verge of tears.

He pulled Remy into a hug. "He'll come around Remy. Give him time. He will see what he is doing is wrong."

"What if it's too late?"

He kissed his brow. He couldn't answer that. All he could do was hope that things would change. That Bickslow would see the light in all of this and come around. He didn't know what they would do if he didn't.

* * *

He had dropped Vik off at Kitt's place before going back to his office. They had trained all week and both of them had improved. Vik could control himself for about 20 minutes, while he had broken past a couple of hours.

They had gone with training that morning due to him having a meeting with Magnus that afternoon.

As he looked over the paperwork in his office, he and Cetus went over how to get rid of Modd.

 _'Removing his soul would be easy._ ' Cetus said.

He shook his head. 'It would be easy to figure out who did it. I am the only one that can do that. Remember, it has to look like an accident.'

 _'But it would be the easiest. Remember, he is an old man. You could even say that he had a heart attack._ ' The demon said in the back of his mind.

'That could work, but it would greatly work in our favor if it looked like Fiore was responsible.'

The demon seemed ready to make his case as a knock came to the door. The door opened and shut. He couldn't help but smile as she walked into the room, tossed her hair, and pulled her findings out of her bag and onto his desk.

"Did you have any trouble getting back into the country?" He asked leaning forward over his desk. His elbows were propped up on the desk, with his fingers locked together.

Flare gave him a small grin. "I had no problems, Master."

"Good." He said picking up her report and looking it over. "It looks like he's taking a lot of time off."

"You know how lazy he is. He only will get involved in something if it is of interest to him. Besides, he thinks that we are gone. So he's relaxed himself." She said messing with her long red hair.

He felt himself chuckle. "Which will only make it better when his world goes up in flames."

She giggled. "I can only imagine the chaos. To see his life in shambles, would that please you?"

He couldn't help but smirk at her. "More than that. He doesn't even deserve to be walking around. He should die a criminal's death."

She leaned forward. "And how will you do it?" Her voice was almost seductive in away, there was a twinge of excitement to it.

He felt himself leaning forward. "Matters on how I'm feeling at the time."

"Really, Master?" Her elbow was on the desk, she was looking at him with utter adoration and admiration.

"Yes, I could be happy about finally getting my hands on him, so happy that I would just remove his soul from his body slowly." He let out a crazed laugh. "Or he could catch me when I'm irate, which would force me to get a lot more physical as I dispatched him." He didn't really care if he sounded insane. He and Cetus had agreed on this over a year ago. They would not allow the King to live.

Flare seemed to shiver as he spoke, her voice coming out as a whisper. "What if anyone gets in your way?"

"I will crush them." He whispered back. He didn't know where all of this was coming from but he was beginning to feel really comfortable around the redhead. She had proven her she could track down some useful information. What other uses could she provide him?

 _'I can think of a few.'_ Cetus said, almost chuckling at his question.

'Get your mind out of the gutter! We're married.' He thought back.

The demon continued to chuckle. _'We?'_

He would have countered the demon, but Flare had noticed his look of agitation. "Master is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "No, I just have a headache." It wasn't really a lie. He had headaches all of the time. Cetus seemed to cause them on a regular basis.

She stood up from her chair and made her way around him. "I can help." She said massaging his scalp. He couldn't deny that it felt good. "You're so tense." Her hands moved down his scalp and down his neck to his shoulders. Part of him was screaming at himself. This was wrong. He had to get her to stop.

 _'You don't want her to stop, just admit it.'_ The demon laughed.

Cetus's words seemed to have the opposite affect though, as he slanted away from her hands. "It should be fine, Flare. I'll just get some tea or something when I get home."

The redhead gave him a sad look and stepped away. He almost breathed a sigh of relief. "I didn't mean to over step my bounds, Master."

He gave her a smile. "It's okay. I've just had my mind on somethings. You were only trying to help."

With that she smiled, as she made her way back to her seat. "What's been on your mind then?"

He thought it over. Should he let Flare in on the assassination? She had proved herself to be efficient. Why not allow her to prove her loyalty to him? "Do you know about a member of the senate named Fredrick Modd?"

She nodded. "Yes, I've heard the name, but I don't think I'm familiar with him. What about him?"

He felt himself smirk. "He's trying to contest Magnus for the Prime Minister seat. If that happens, we will lose everything. We can't mold Modd to our will." He hated to admit it, but he had Magnus eating out of the palm of his hand. He was like dough in his hands. He could get the man to do anything.

Flare seemed to get what he was saying. "He's a threat then."

"Yes and like any threat, he must be dealt with." He said.

His arm laid across the table and her hand drew towards his and began to caress his arm, almost drawing circles on his forearm. "Do you need me to take care of him?" She practically purred.

He couldn't believe that she was offering to get rid of the senator. He sighed. "It needs to look like he has been taken down by Fiore. If he just falls without that, another threat could spring up or Magnus's camp will look guilty. We have to tread carefully." He warned.

She only smirked. "Are you underestimating me, Master?" Her hand was still stroking his arm. "Those papers weren't the only thing I brought back from Fiore."

He looked at her questioningly. "What else have you brought me?"

She withdrew, grabbing her bag from the floor and tossing a couple of daggers on his desk. All of which had the royal seal of Fiore on them. "Now, I think that those could be quite useful."

He couldn't believe it. His problem was solved. He could kiss her right now.

 _'She's right there, kiss her. You know you want to.'_ Cetus chuckled, but he ignored him. Instead he stood from his desk and grabbing some blueprints from the cabinet behind him. Both him and Flare had an assassination to plan.

To Be Continued…..

 _Author's Note_

 _Oh snap, Laxus has found Lisanna and knows everything. I kind of wonder what Laxus and Bickslow are going to do once they are face to face again.I have a feeling that neither of them are going to be very happy about seeing each other. Poor Remy, he's just worried about his kid, as he should be. Bickslow, Bickslow, Bickslow, you're becoming a monster._

 _I thought that I should answer some of my reviews at the bottom of these chapters, so if you have any comments/questions, I'll answer them here. If I don't have a lot I'm going to do some character bios._

 _Cardfighter By Maple-It is to be expected. He does spend all of his time with Cetus. He really is the worst influence. Cetus was never a good guy. He just wanted to get out of the cave before the blast and appealed to Bickslow when he was desperate._

 _Paupus- Trust me, Flare is not going anywhere. She's going to practically be a main character in this fic._


	16. Chapter 16

He couldn't believe what Lisanna had told him. It all had to be a bad dream. There was no way that Bickslow had become so neglectful of his family. The last time he had seen his brother, he was so gung ho about reuniting their entire family.

He kept shaking his head as he tried to process the information. As much as he tried, it was just too much.

He jumped as Freed clasped his hand on his shoulder. "Are you going to be okay?" The green haired mage asked.

He didn't know how to respond. How could he respond? Between his brother ignoring his family and all of that demon business, he just didn't know what to think. He hoped that he would run into Bickslow so that they could get all of this figured out.

"Laxus, I think you need to face the facts. Lisanna wouldn't have told us all of that if it wasn't true." Freed said trying to reach him.

He wanted to just unleash all of his anger and frustrations, but found that he couldn't do that. He had to remain calm or the others would notice.

Across the room, his wife and the others were talking with Mrs. Modd about what they were having for dinner. He didn't care what they were having, his mind was so clouded with the severity of what was going on. If Bickslow was planning a war, then he had truly turned against everything that he once stood for. If he was working with Absolon's Prime Minister, he was no different than the flunkies that works for the King of Fiore. If he was leaving his family behind for power, what was really left of him?

He chose to stay quiet as Mrs. Modd started dinner. Eventually all of this would come out and then everything would come crashing down.

* * *

He smirked to himself. Both he and Flare had worked most of the afternoon on their plan. When Magnus had shown up, like had promised to do, they had pitched their idea to him.

He watched as the Prime Minister grinned at what they had come up with and found that he wasn't fazed by it. Rather he was relieved that it was going to be approved.

As Magnus left, he looked down at his watch. It was far past supper time. Lisanna wouldn't be happy with him again.

He sighed, looking down over his work again.

"Master?" He looked up to find Flare staring at him nervously.

"You can go home for the night, Flare." He said, but she didn't leave. She stayed planted right in front of his desk. "Do you need something?"

She blushed. "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner? We've been in this office all day without breaks, so I'm sure you're hungry."

He found himself just staring at her. She was asking him to dinner and he was hungry. If it meant that he wouldn't have to listen to Lisanna bark at him when he got home, then he would take it. "Where did you have in mind?"

She seemed stunned that he accepted her offer. In the past, he had ignored her, but she was proving to be very useful to him. If it wasn't for her intel, then he would still be here trying to figure out how to get rid of Modd and figuring out when the best time to strike was.

He chuckled at how lost for words she was. "How about we go to that place on the corner. It will be my treat."

She blushed. "You don't have to do that. I have my own money."

He laughed. "Let me pay for it. It's the least I can do after you got me that information."

She gave him a smile, as he got up from his desk. "So I can have whatever I want?"

He chuckled. "Do you want to go somewhere else now?"

She laughed. "No, I think that place is the best one."

"The best place for you to bleed me dry." He joked.

She giggled. "Now Master, why would I ever do that?" She tried to look all innocent, but he knew better.

He just smiled. "Just get your things."

* * *

She looked down at the dinner she had made. Xenia had just finished up, while she stared across the table and sighed. Once again, the meal that she had made would go to waste. There anniversary was the last time that he had sat down with her and before then, she couldn't remember a time. Maybe her birthday.

She looked up at the clock. It was getting late.

She shook her head, maybe it wasn't a good idea for her to lead Laxus and Freed to her house. She knew that Bickslow would be furious if he knew that she revealed herself, but she was at her wits end. His constant lack of caring about what was going on with their family was wearing on her heavily and she just couldn't take it anymore. She deserved better than that, her daughter deserved better than that.

But she couldn't leave him. They were bond to each other by the meteor shower all of those years ago. But now it felt like that bond was gone, which was odd as Remy had told her that it was supposed to be unbreakable.

'But that was before Cetus was a part of the picture.' Her thoughts reminded her. Yes, if that demon had never invaded her husband, he would probably have stayed the loving man that he was.

She almost smiled as she remembered the day he proposed to her. His eyes were so full of love, while now all she saw from one of those eyes was paranoia and the other was vacant, as it was that monsters home.

Xenia let out a cry, she looked tired. She gave her little girl a sad smile. "I'm thinking its bed time."

Her daughter passed out on her way up to her crib. As she set her daughter down, she couldn't help it as she started to cry.

She knew what she would have to do, she just didn't want to do it.

* * *

He had been out later than he planned. They had just spent most of the dinner talking about random things.

When he finally paid the bill, he had almost spent all of the money in his wallet.

As they stood outside of the restaurant, he wondered what he should do now. Lisanna would be on him the moment he entered the house and he really didn't want to deal with that right now.

"Master?" Again Flare pipped up, breaking him free from his thoughts of home.

He looked over to find her nervous again. "Yes, Flare."

"Well….I was wondering if you wanted to…wanted to come back to my place for coffee." She stuttered.

Alarms were going off in the back of his head. That would be a bad idea, having dinner with the redhead was on thing. Going back to her apartment was another.

' _I don't see a problem. She wants your company, unlike your wife.'_ Cetus said, annoyed with him.

He didn't answer the demon, instead answering the red head. "I think that would be unwise. Besides, Lisanna is going to wonder where I am."

"Oh." She said, backing up a little. "Sorry. I was just…"

"I know." He sighed. She looked so vulnerable right now. "Why don't I just walk you home?"

Her face brightened up a little at that and she nodded.

' _Fuck taking her to her door, you should be taking her to your bed.'_ Cetus argued.

Again. he thought nothing back to the demon. Maybe he should ignore Cetus more often. It was kind of amusing to find that demon flustered with him. The headache later would be worth it.

As they reached the apartment, he didn't know what compelled him to actually follow her to the top floor of the building.

As they stood in front of her apartment, he started to feel awkward. Like he didn't know what to say or do.

Well he did know, but why wasn't he doing it? He was only supposed to wish her a good night and go home. That was it.

But here he was standing her, just looking at her as she did the same to him.

Cetus laughed in the back of his head. _'Stop lying to yourself. You want her. At least give her something for helping us out.'_

'I do not want her and I bought her dinner, that is enough.' He answered the demon for the first time that night.

The demon chuckled _. 'Is that really enough? Don't you think you should reward her in another way?'_

He wanted to shake his head, but it would look weird if he did that out of nowhere. 'Look it's not happening.' He thought as his arm twitched.

"Master?" He stopped arguing with himself and found that Flare was looking at him as if she was worried. "You seem out of it. Are you sure you don't want to come in and get a drink?"

He didn't know how to answer. Was Cetus right? Did he want Flare? He denied it, but in the back of his mind, he continued to question himself.

When he didn't answer, she reached forward and grabbed his hand, leading him into her apartment. He looked around for a second, noting how small it was and reminding himself that only one person lived here.

She led him to the couch and he found himself sitting down on it, as she ran to go get him something from the kitchen. When she came back, she tripped over her coffee table and landed almost on top of him, the glass she was holding, had crashed down to the floor and was broken into a million pieces.

But he didn't even hear it fall. She was practically on his lap. She made a squeak, and tried to get off of him, but he held her still, looking into her eyes.

He kept telling himself to let her go, but he held back.

' _See I was right. You want her. Go ahead and have some fun. You've been working hard. Shouldn't you give yourself a reward every once and a while?'_ Cetus's words towered over all of his other thoughts, as he felt himself begin to move forward.

As he was about to close the gap, his wife's face flashed before his eyes and he moved back.

"I should probably get going." He said, helping her up and standing from the couch.

She said nothing, but nodded. He could tell that she was embarrassed at her actions. She wasn't the only one.

"I will see you in the morning. We have to start organizing everything. Modd's speech is this Saturday and that's when we must strike."

Again, she nodded. "Yes, I will see you tomorrow." She walked him to him door and they just looked at each other again, before he finally left her home.

As he walked down the stairs and towards his own house, Cetus chastised him in the back of his mind.

* * *

His headache grew as he opened the door to his house, to find Lisanna waiting for him.

"I didn't think that you would still be up." He said, removing his shoes.

She tapped her foot at him angrily. "Where have you been?"

"I was at work. You know Magnus can talk for hours." It really wasn't a lie. He had seen the Prime Minister and the man did hold him up from time to time, just not today.

She gave him a sad look. "If you stayed so late tonight, can you at least take off some time tomorrow?"

He sighed. "You know that I can't do that. There is so much that I have to do. Magnus kind of back loaded me with a bunch of new stuff and now I have to figure out our new budget." Again, these weren't lies really, but they were minor problems. He didn't really need to attend to those things at the moment.

She started to cry. "Bickslow…do you still love me?" She asked.

He felt himself soften. "You know that I love you." If only she knew what he had almost done.

She looked down. "I just wish that I got to see you more."

He almost smiled as an idea hit him. "Tell you what. I'll be at the office all week this week, but I didn't forget what this weekend is."

She looked up at him realizing what he was talking about. "You mean that you didn't?"

"I'll try to get this weekend off. Magnus can wait let me go for a couple of days." He said, watching as her face lit up.

She practically thrust herself into his arms. "You promise!"

He smiled down at her. "I promise." He leaned down and kissed her, before scooping her up and taking her to their bedroom.

She had fallen asleep as she cuddled into his side. He had at least made her happy this night. If only she knew the real reason that he wanted the weekend off.

To Be Continued….

 _Author's Note_

 _So why does Bickslow want to have the weekend off? And man that was a close step to being a naughty cheater Bickslow, my boy. What was Lisanna talking about when she said that she would do what she had to do and what about Laxus's involvment?_

 _Sorry about the lack of chapter last week. I am a student at a veterinary college and I had not only kennels all week, but I had midterm exams. In the future, I will be posting the weeks that I can't update on my profile, so that people will know what is going on._

 _Anyway on to the comments_

 _Cardfighter By Maple- Uh oh indeed._

 _Paupus- Thank you for saying that. I am a vet student at the moment, but I love writing in my spare time and have been working on multiple stores at the same time. Most of them are fanfics, but I do have a couple originals floating around on this computer._


	17. Chapter 17

He looked over at his wife, her training was going better than he expected. They decided that they were going to take the rest of the week off. Jose loved the time with Gunner, but they hadn't seen their son in what felt like ages.

Right now, the boy was playing on the floor. He slid down onto the floor, so he could get a better view.

It was really nice being home. If he had it his way, this war would have been fought years ago. That way he could just focus on this.

"Dad?" His son had forgotten his toys and was now sitting on his leg.

He gave the boy a smile. "You want to play horsey, don't you?"

The boy gave him a big smile and he gave in. He would enjoy this time they had together now. Before the storm hit and blew everyone away.

* * *

They were getting ready to move Vik's things. It was kind of hard. Their house would be empty again.

"You got everything?" Ivan asked, as their son pouted.

"I'll be fine. Kitt and Edvin are still moving his some of his stuff out of the State House." He sounded like he would rather be helping them, but they didn't want to raise suspicions. Sure they were just 3 guys living together. But Magnus knew about his son's sexuality. He would know that there was something besides friendship going on. And the last thing that boys needed was the Prime Minister and his wife going after them.

"How did Mrs. Knud take it?" Ivan asked, as he looked on.

His boy let out a chuckle. "Not well. She doesn't know about our relationship, but she didn't like the idea of him being out from under her thumb."

"I hope she wasn't too hard on him. The boy needs some space to grow." He said, finishing up the last box. He was kind of glad that Vik didn't have that much stuff. Mainly, clothes and a couple of trinkets here and there. Most of their things had been destroyed when the guild was demolished.

Vik frowned. "She's probably still giving him shit about it. Ed may look like he can take care of things on his own, but he's very dependent. He always needs someone telling him what to do."

He didn't think about it often, but now he had a confirmation of how things had to work in the bedroom between the three of them. Ivan and him flipped, but most of the time, he was the one on top. In his son's relationship, he had to be somewhere in-between or that he was kind that dominated the bedroom. But that would be silly. Vik was a kind and sensitive boy, there was no way that his son could be top over the three of them. He and Kitt had to swap out for something.

He shook his head, trying to will the thoughts away. When him and his lover had found out about their son's crazy relationship, they had kind of started a bet with each other. Ivan pegged their son as either the submissive one or the dominate one, while had gone with somewhere in the middle of that.

"We need to get all of this on the truck." Ivan said, opening the door. Using a quick spell, the magic popped from one spot onto the truck. He almost glared at Ivan for using his magic so willy nilly, but he knew what was going on. His husband hated dragging things out. He wanted everything done and finished up. The longer that they took moving the boy out, the more Ivan would doubt the decision to do so.

"Do you need one of us there to unpack?" He asked, knowing the answer before he said it.

"No, Kitt, Ed, and I have to figure out where everything goes first." Vik answered.

"Then I guess this is it?" He said, trying not to sound sad.

"Come on dad, you and pops had to know that this day would come someday." The boy commented, a silly smirk on his face.

He looked off to the side. "I knew, but I never imagined that it would be so soon."

"It feels like yesterday, when we found out about you." Ivan said, now he could hear the sadness creeping into his lover's voice.

Vik rolled his eyes. "You make it sound like I'm never going to visit."

He sighed. "You really can't blame us."

The boy gave him a small frown. "Bickslow is kind of bogged down with his work."

"Let's not talk about your brother. This is your day." Ivan interjected.

Ivan was right, he needed to stop thinking about Bickslow, but he couldn't help but worry. His eldest was going off on the wrong path and he just knew it. And from the look of it, he was already too late to stop it.

* * *

He laughed to himself as he leaned back into his office chair. Lisanna had been in a much better mood this morning. Maybe he should just come home and ravish her more often.

He smirked to himself. He knew it was more than that, but his wife had no idea that she had found a way for him to lay low when the weekend came. He would have the perfect alibi. Spending time with his daughter for her birthday was the best excuse. All he would have to do was get up and say he was using the bathroom, teleport and be back at home in a matter of seconds.

Flare walked in, looking a little awkward. He could tell how embarrassed she was about what had almost happened last night. "Master, I finished the report."

He took it from her and began to look over it. He had already let her in on his plan of this weekend and advised her to have an alibi as well. She looked away at that almost blushing. If he could read minds, he knew she was probably imagining an alibi that included the two of them doing something dirty.

Everything was going according to plan. Both Knud and Modd were scheduled to speak and the crowd was supposed to be in the thousands.

There was only one problem. Fingerprints. The kill would be done by either himself or Flare and they had to ensure that they were not caught. It would jeopardize their whole operation.

"Do you have the gloves?" He pondered.

She giggled nervously. "I did. I even modified them a little bit." She said digging into that bag that she had brought. He looked up at her questioningly, when had she had the time to come up this these. They had only come up with their plan a couple of days ago. "I made them last night…. after you left."

He tensed up a little. "You could have gone to bed."

She shook her head. "I couldn't sleep. I had to get something off of my mind." She admitted, but didn't say anything else. She didn't need to; he already knew what had been on her mind.

"Why don't we talk about something else. What have you done with the gloves." He asked. He needed to change the subject, off of that. That subject was dangerous.

' _Only because you know that I am right and I know what you want.'_ Cetus said annoyed with him.

'Shut up. You know nothing.' He stated in his mind.

The demon laughed. _'Oh please, I was there last night just as you were. If you didn't think of that white powderpuff, you would have had a much more enjoyable experience.'_

He almost growled. 'I would say that it was enjoyable.'

If anything, the demon only howled more. _'You really called that enjoying yourself. If I remember correctly, your mind was elsewhere.'_ This time he did let out a growl. _'If I remember right, you had another woman on your mind when you came.'_

"Try them on and see." She laughed as he sat their puzzled. His mind was still reeling from what Cetus had just said. "Come on, don't be shy about it."

Pulling himself together, he started to put the gloves on. To his shock and awe, they practically disappeared when you had them on. "How?"

She giggled. "They only make it look like your touching the daggers with your bare hands. There is another set of fingerprints on the fingers as well."

He was curious. "Who?"

She grinned. "I got them from the dagger. I got the daggers off of someone in Fiore's army. I snatched them when he wasn't looking. I never got my fingerprints on them, because I was wearing gloves."

He grinned darkly. "That's perfect."

She gave him a large smile. "Well, you said that you would only accept the best and I would never want to stand in your way, Master."

He took the gloves off and crossed his arms. "At least your supportive." She gave him a questioning look. "My family is not too happy with me at the moment."

"If it's about last night, I'm.." She began.

He put his hand up to silence her. "It has nothing to do with last night. They just wish that I put my family before my job."

"But everything you do is for them. They have to know that." She said, looking stunned.

"You would think, but no. I'm the bad guy because I'm never home." He sighed.

"Is that why you're taking the weekend off? If so, I can always do the mission myself." The redhead said.

He thought it over for a second. "As much as I would love to take you up on that offer, we both need to be there. Someone has to distract the guards while the other delivers the blow."

She shook her head. "Modd can't be the only target."

He cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"It's going to look very strange if we only go after Modd, so we may have to go after a couple of his guards and one of Magnus's guards. It will make it look like both candidates were attacked by Fiore." She said with a straight face.

He blinked at her a couple of times. "You've really thought this through."

She gave him a sad smile. "I had too. It's the only way that our plan will work."

He sighed. He had always known that they would have to kill more than just Modd, he just didn't want to think about it. "Have you looked over all of the security protocols?"

She nodded. "There will be about 4 guards for each of them. Modd's guard don't look too well trained, so it should be easy."

"That's what the man gets for hiring farmers." He said leaning forward in his chair.

"He was offered trained personal, but refused them. Saying something about government attack dogs." She laughed.

He found himself laughing as well. "Attack dogs, huh. I don't think we are dogs. We don't listen to orders. We make the orders."

She leaned across the table. "What about Magnus?"

He smirked. "What about him? He would be lost without me." If he wasn't around Magnus would have been in hot water, all of his ideas over the past 3 years had come from him. Magnus at this point was just a platform for his ideas. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Have you ever thought of running for office?" Flare asked.

He shook his head. "No, I prefer to pull the strings from behind the scenes. Let Magnus be my stand in, it's more fun that way."

She nodded. "That's understandable. This way Magnus gets all of the fallout."

He smirked. "Exactly. He's the one meant to suffer, just like Fiore."

She arched an eyebrow up. "So his fate will be the same then?"

"Yes. When all of this is said and done, both Fiore and Magnus will be dead. Both are corrupt and must be relieved of their duties. Modd would have been fine if he had tried to step in after the war, but with how things are going, that won't happen. Both countries must be purged." He said, allowing the darkness to hit his voice.

He expected her to move away from him, but she stood still. He could see it in her eyes, she wasn't afraid. She looked thrilled almost. "When would we deal with Magnus?"

He smirked at her. "As soon as we have Fiore cornered, I will call for the strike."

She smiled at him. "Can you imagine the chaos? The streets will be filled with the cries for their fallen leader."

He leaned forward some more. "Only if they still hold him as such, by that point, they will all despise him for putting them through **his** war." He felt as if he should start chackling.

She leaned forward as well, so much so that their faces were almost touching. "So the crowds will be filled with cheers for the tyrant."

"Exactly. From then on, we can monitor both countries as they choose their new leader." He said, looking directly into her eyes.

She giggled. "What do you mean? We will be choosing for them."

She had a point, the people had chosen the wrong people to run of office. It would be up to them to make the call. "I like the way you think."

He leaned back a bit and looked down at the plans. They would create the perfect world. When all of this was said and done, every government would bow to his will. It was the only a matter of time.

To Be Continued…

 _Aurthor's Note_

 _Oh Bickslow, your still spending time with Flare, when Lisanna finds out about this, she isn't going to be very happy. The day of Modd's assassination is getting closer, and now it seems like there will be more blood spilt. Bickslow seems to really like the power he has. Poor Ivan and Remy, they are now empty nesters._

 _Paupus-XD She sure does._


	18. Chapter 18

He had to pull himself out of bed. They would be leaving for home soon. Mira was already up and packing. He had not yet told her about Lisanna being alive. He just knew that when the time came, both sisters would be reunited. But right now wasn't the best time to bring it up. If Bickslow was changing, Lisanna was likely to return home. From how she had put it, she had grown to distrust her husband. The love he had seen all of those years ago, was almost gone from her eyes. He hoped that part of his brother was still alive in that body. That the demon that shared with him was only hanging on by a thread and was about to be over thrown. But he knew that wasn't the case. His brother was giving in to whatever the demon commanded. It would not be long before he disappeared entirely.

"Laxus?" He flinched as Mira touched his shoulder, bring him out of this thoughts. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just tired."

She frowned. "We just had a vacation. I don't think you should be so tired."

He put on a smile. "It's a different kind of tired."

That seemed to work as she gave him one of her signature smiles. "Just remember that we need to get out of here by midnight tonight. It's going to be a long ride back to Magnolia and I want to see my baby."

Finally, he smiled genuinely. "Yeah, I bet that Ever wants to get back to her son as well."

A steady knock on the door, forced them both to look at their visitor. Mrs. Modd stood there looking as happy as could be. "I know that you are all getting ready to leave. But I was hoping that you would come by and watch Fred's speech at the capitol building. I know politics can be boring, but looking at our numbers, we may have a shot."

"Have a shot at what?" He asked, wondering why the woman looked so excited.

"Fred has been hiding something from me. Apparently, his party has set him up to be the candidate to face Magnus Knud in the next election. We may have a chance to stop the oncoming war." She said happily.

He froze. What Lisanna said about Bickslow was starting to sink in. He would stop at nothing to get his war. Fredrick mod was in danger. There was no way that his brother could let him get into office.

"We'll be there." Mira gave him a confused look as Mrs. Modd smiled.

"I'll let him know that you are going." The older woman said, leaving the room.

"Laxus, I thought we were leaving." Mira asked.

He gave her a small smile. "We are, but after all of the hospitality that Modd has given us, I think it would be nice to at least show up and give him our support. We can leave after the speech is done."

With that she gave him a smile, showing that she agreed. He hated lying to her and he hoped that his instincts were wrong. He still didn't know what he was going to do if what Lisanna said was true. How would he even tell his grandfather?

* * *

He smiled down at his daughter as she played on the floor. Lisanna looked really happy to his right.

"She's gotten so big." He said, kind of shocked. Was this what she meant by him missing out on things?

His wife giggled. "Well children do grow like weeds." She stood up and started to head to the kitchen. "Remy and Ivan are going to over soon and I think Vik is bring his….well…I don't know what to call them."

He could tell that she was happy to have the entire family under their roof for this. He was always absent from these kinds of things. Sure, he got the occasional day off, but with this Modd stuff and the oncoming war, he didn't have much time anymore.

'Don't forget that you have to meet with Flare soon.' Cetus reminded him.

'We still have four hours before that.' He thought back.

The demon chuckled. 'Do you really think you can keep this from them? That they will not notice that the times will match up.'

'All they will know was that I was in the restroom, nothing more, nothing less.'

"Bickslow?" Lisanna called for him from the other room. "Can you go and change Xenia for the party?"

"Yeah. I'll get it." He called back. He reached down and picked up his daughter. She was 2 today. He really couldn't believe that she had grown this fast. From what he had heard, she already had her first power. In no time, she would be useful to him. He tensed up at the thought. He was doing all of this for her. She wasn't a weapon. She was his child.

'She's going to be a strong one. Imagine the possibilities.' Cetus started.

He almost dropped his daughter in shock. What was going on? It was almost like he had been drowning in darkness for months and he was coming up for air for the first time. Was this what he really thought of his family?

The demon growled in the back of his mind. 'Dammit, I was so close." Cetus said angrily. Suddenly, he could feel it, as the monster tried to tether him back in.

He barely had time to set his daughter down in her crib, before he was flown onto the floor. His head felt like it was going to explode. He wanted to cry out, but it was like there was a hand over his mouth, muffling any sound that he could make.

His skin felt hot, as he began to pull at his scalp. Trying as much as he could to remove the demon from his mind.

Xenia began to cry and he could hear Lisanna yelling at him form down stairs. The demon cursing the two of them.

His wife walked in angry, but her anger faded in seconds as she found him on the floor. "Bickslow, what is going on?!" He could hear the fear in her voice. She was scared.

"A knife." He barely got the words out as the monster began to close his airway. It wanted him gone. It wanted him out of the picture and under its spell.

His wife ran into the other room, as he began to scratch at his throat.

'After I did everything for you. Don't you want the power to destroy your enemies?! We could have ruled together. The three of us." Cetus said angrily.

'Three? You never planned for Lisanna and Xenia to be with us.' He yelled at the other in his mind.

It chuckled. 'No, why would I want someone as boring as Lisanna, when Flare is available.'

'You're a bastard! You planned this from the beginning, didn't you?!' He thought back, his mind was starting to slow down. He was having a hard time breathing now. It was almost like he was drowning in the darkness again. His body began to move of its own accord.

'That's it. Come.' Cetus chuckled darkly. His mind faded out completely as he went under. "We have an empire to create." With that Cetus, laughed aloud darkly for the first time in over a thousand years, before teleporting out with his new body.

* * *

She returned to find the room in a mess, her husband was nowhere to be seen.

She fell to her knees as her daughter cried. How had she not seen the signs earlier?

She heard the multiple knocks and some yelling from down stairs. Remy and Ivan had just entered the house with Vik and his two lovers in tow.

"Lisanna?" She could hear Remy call for her up the stairs. Her heart was breaking as she looked down at the knife in her hands. If only she had moved faster.

She heard movement up the stairs, not everyone was coming up the stairs.

She looked over to the door as Remy walked in, looking down at her in confusion. "Why are you and Xenia up here? And why are you on the floor?" Before she could answer, her father-in-law saw the knife. "Why do you have a knife?" He sounded as if he was trying to stay calm. He must have been thinking the worst.

"Remy….it's taken him." She said, not knowing how or what to say. How do you really tell someone that their son had become possessed by a demon? Tears burned her eyes as she remembered how panicked he looked before she ran off to grab the knife. She didn't know what he wanted with it, but for the first time in a long time, she had seen her husband. A few nights ago, she thought that maybe she had come across him, but that was real. The demon inside was now in control. It was probably too late to save him.

The man cocked his head to the side and raised his right eyebrow. "Lisanna, what has taken who?"

"Cetus….it's taken over him. It has been in control of his thoughts for months. It has to be. He looked so scared and I ran to grab the knife because he told me to. When I came back, he was gone. I don't know what it wants." It all came spilling from her mouth.

She could see his eyes flash. "So all this time, that monster has been manipulating him?"

She nodded, it felt as if her throat had closed up. Her head was pounding from all of the stress.

She shook as he scooped her up, taking her downstairs. She dropped the knife, leaving it on the floor of the bedroom. Xenia was safely in her crib so there were no worries about that.

"Lisanna! What happened?" Ivan was the first to her. All she could was cry into her hands, she felt so helpless.

"Cetus has fully possessed Bickslow." Remy said, putting her down on the couch. "He has run off and we don't know where he has gone."

Ivan looked at the both shocked and he wasn't the only one. Edvin and Kitt looked absolutely terrified at the idea.

"He's close to my dad, what if something happens to him?" Edvin said, sounding worried.

Kitt looked like he was trying to calm him down, but it wasn't working.

Vik on the other hand, seemed to have something else on his mind.

"Viktor, what is wrong with you?" Kitt asked, the whole room turned to stare at him.

"I think I know where he will go." Vik said, turning to his parents.

The two of them looked at their son in confusion as did she. "How do you know that?" She couldn't believe that she could speak. Her throat felt so scratched up.

"We started training together. Bickslow thought that we needed to learn how to use…that before everything went to hell." Vik answered.

"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Remy asked, she could hear the worry in his voice.

"That's not important right now. If that demon is in control of him, then it has access to that power." Unlike the others, Vik didn't sound as worried as everyone else. "Cetus will become a weapon and he won't stop until he has conquered everything for himself."

Kitt looked at Edvin alarmed. "Master Bickslow is a weapon? If he's that powerful, how can you be so confident? How can we stop him?"

She already knew what Vik was going to say, but Ivan beat her to it. "No…you're not doing that. We have already lost your brother. You think we want to lose you too?" The man pleaded.

"You know that it is the only way. Bickslow and I are what we are. I have trained myself on how to use it, be it is only for a short amount of time, but I have to try." Vik argued.

"You can't go in alone. Your brother is stronger than you. You would be walking to the gallows." Remy argued back.

She watched as the boy shook his face. "Who said that I would be going alone. Warner and Carma will be with me." He sighed. "I know you don't like it, but we are out of options. It may be the only way to save Bickslow from Cetus."

"Even if I go along with this plan, and I'm not saying that I will. How do we even find him?" Remy said.

"Didn't you hear me before. I know where he will run off to. In the end, Cetus will run to the cave." All eyes stared at the boy dumbfounded. "Where do you think we trained. Bickslow and Warner rebuilt it, most likely because Cetus wanted it."

"So what you're saying is that we need to teleport there." Remy said, sighing.

"Remy, you aren't going along with this are you?" Ivan said in shock.

"If we have a chance, we need to take it. Maybe Vik is right. If we can get Bickslow to fight it, we may be able to save him." Remy sighed. "Besides, I don't think that we can change his mind."

The whole room again was watching Vik. "I know you'll hate to hear me say this, but I am a weapon. Let me do my job." She could see that both Edvin and Kitt looked shocked at this revelation. Vik had never told them about this side of himself.

She looked around the room one last time, knowing that all of her hopes rested on whether her brother-in-law would succeed. She just wondered what Cetus could be doing now? Was he off in the old guild or was he somewhere else?

* * *

He laughed to himself as he reappeared. His plans would be completed as scheduled. Only Modd and Knud would fall this day. The country of Absolon would he his again.

But before that, he had other things to attend to.

He knocked on the door a couple of times, a wild smirk on his face.

The door opened and he looked down at her. "Master? I thought that we weren't meeting until later?" She asked.

He chuckled to himself, as he pushed himself into her apartment. "I figured that we could find a better way to pass the time." And with that the demon pinned her to the wall. She squirmed for a bit, looking slightly panicked, but melted as soon as he pulled her into a frantic kiss.

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _Sorry that this is late. I was sick as a dog and it took a little longer to get this finished. So Bickslow is kind of gone, for now. Cetus is in control now. This kind of explains Bickslow's behavior. Cetus was slowly taking over his body and mind. What is Cetus's link to Absolon and why does he think that it is his? Guess you well have to read to find out._

 _Paupus- I don't know about adding anymore characters at the moment, mainly because the cast is a little full. I may put them in sometime in the future though._


	19. Chapter 19

The crowd was really growing as he looked over his fellow guild members. While the others looked quite happy to stay a little longer, but there was no way he could stay calm. Freed was the only one to truly understand what was going on.

A loud gong was hit and his attention was turned to the stage. He could see both Modd and Knud standing there with their security teams. It looked like everything was taken care of. Maybe he was just over thinking it.

He could always be wrong, Bickslow could be working to keep Knud in office. Just because he wanted a war, didn't mean that he would go after Modd personally. Hell, he knew Bickslow and while he did trust Lisanna, what she had said just didn't match up with the man he knew.

He started to relax, Lisanna was wrong. He was wrong. There was no way that Bickslow would do anything like this.

"Laxus?" He turned and was surprised to find someone that he wasn't expecting.

"Rosa?" Why was she here? "I didn't think you would be out here?" It struck him as odd. There was no reason for one of the King's spies to be here.

She looked up at the stage and he felt restless again. "I came looking for something." She said nothing else. Looking around, as if she was waiting for something.

"You know something." He stated.

He kind of wished that he didn't say anything as the woman turned around to glare at him. "It is official business. Nothing that you would need to know."

That didn't help his nervousness at all. If someone from Fiore was here, then something was going down. "I just wanted to know if you needed …"

Then out of nowhere she just left. Like she didn't have any time to talk to him. If he wasn't on the edge before, now he was. Whatever was going on would not end well.

* * *

He chuckled to himself as he got dressed, looking to the clock with an almost demented smile.

Flare still laid there, breathing heavily. "I don't know if I can move."

He looked down at her, putting on a fake smile. "I can take care of it. Just get some sleep, my love."

She smiled at him and turned over onto her side, yawning before she fell asleep.

He stood up and left the room. Now with that moron host of his out of the way, he could do things the way he wanted. He was actually glad that Bickslow had similar magic to himself. It meant that he didn't have to learn how everything worked.

The demon smirked to himself as he teleported to the venue. Not changing or hiding who he was. They would be sure to know who their enemy was.

He looked over the crowd, as he looked for a good target and smirked to himself, as he found the perfect person.

That idiot had been thinking of this all wrong, not realizing the power that he really held.

His eyes flashed a darker red as he watched the blond struggle with him a bit. He could tell who she was, the inner workings of her soul were not that different than what he was used to.

She twitched a little as he pushed through her mind, getting a good look at all of her memories. So Fiore had sent her out after the lost equipment. She was here looking for Flare. He almost laughed. Like she would ever get close to her. No one would get close to her, no one would touch his things again.

He laughed as he had her walk away from Ivan's other son mid-sentence. It had been a long time since he got to play with some toys. It was interesting that Fairy Tail mages were here. He wondered how they would enjoy the upcoming show.

He raised his hand up slowly, controlling what she said as she pushed her way through the crowd. Nothing was going to stand in his way. Nothing.

* * *

He couldn't help but feel bad for Lisanna. If he had said something earlier, he could have stopped this.

His parents were also a wreck over this idea. They didn't want him to use that side of him, but they had no choice. The only way to fight Cetus would be to use it.

But really that was the least of his worries right now. Edvin was a mess and Kitt was trying to comfort him. Just because redhead wasn't that close to his father, didn't mean that he wasn't concerned about his safety.

Kitt looked up at him wanting answers. This wasn't the way he wanted them to discover his past.

Edvin seemed like he wanted the same answers. He guessed as much. If he was still working under Fiore, he would be going after Edvin's family. Hell, he was still be going after his own family.

"What do you want to know?" He thought he might as well get this over with.

Kitt gave him a sad smile. "How about you start at the beginning."

Edvin nodded and he took a deep breath. "Remember when I told you that my parents didn't know that I existed." Both of them nodded. "Both my brother and I were born in a government facility in Fiore. We were made to be military grade super weapons." He watched as both of their mouths dropped. "Bickslow was stolen as a baby and I was made at a later date. For most of my life, I lived in a barracks with two girls that were like my sisters and we did what we were told."

"What did that include?" Edvin asked, confusing him as he thought the redhead was still speechless.

He looked down. "We were trained to be monsters. I've hurt a lot of people."

"Did you kill anyone?" Kitt asked.

"Yes. That was part of it." He answered, not wanting to see their faces. He knew that he would be judged when they found out about it.

"So how did you end up with your parents." Kitt asked.

He sighed. "I was sent to kill my grandfather, on my papa's side. During the fight, I was knocked unconscious. I woke up in the Raven Tail guild hall."

"What did you do from there? I don't see you coming over quietly, especially after being indoctrinated at such a young age." Edvin said, stirring his tea.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "He fought us for a while, but he came around." His father laughed.

He looked up at the man, still feeling ashamed. "Hell, he tried to spit on me." His papa said

"Dad! Pops!" He said mortified.

"Well you did. But you stopped after you realized the truth. You chose to change. You know how many people would just give up on themselves after finding that out about themselves." His father asked.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of. You had no control over what you were doing." Ivan said.

He finally looked up to find everyone looking at him, not in anger or fear, but with instead of love and acceptance. "I know that, but it doesn't make it hurt less."

"That means that you are human." His father said.

He was about to retort as Lisanna squealed from the living room. Worrying about her safety, they all ran out of the dining room.

"What's wrong?" Ivan asked.

She pointed to the magic screen in front of her. His eyes grew wide. The speech. Would his Cetus strike now?

His eyes scanned the screen and felt his stomach drop. He could see the Fairy Tail mages that he attacked all those years ago and they were talking to a blonde girl. The girl turned around. 32. "She can't be here."

Everyone turned to look at him, wondering what he was talking about. They had to be focused on the mages. Even Lisanna looked confused as to what she he was talking about.

"I have to go!" He said frantically, turning to this father.

Remy sighed. "Can you tell me what this is about?"

"They are talking to 32." He stated.

His father became ridged. "How?"

"I don't know, but there has to be a reason for her to be here. If they sent 32, it must just be an investigation. That or 25 if close and they are planning something." He stated again.

"Do you want to run into them to talk to them or is this something else?" Ivan asked.

"It's as I said before. They wouldn't be here without there being a problem, I think if we go and follow her, we will find Bickslow." He said.

He watched as looks of comprehension came over his parent's faces. "We can try and stop Cetus from making a move."

He nodded.

In a matter of seconds, both of his parents took one of his shoulders. "I would suggest that the three of you find the rest of the guild. Get everyone on alert."

With that they disappeared.

* * *

He chuckled to himself as he felt his new arrivals. So his host's family were going to try and stop him. How cute.

He made his way around a stone pillar. He didn't need to be in sight for him to control his new puppet. The blonde girl would do his bidding, whether she liked it or not.

He walked back passed an old library. He wondered if there was any sign of him in there. The people of his country, much to his dismay, had seemed to forget about his existence. But soon they would be forced to remember.

Slowly, he found his puppet coming to him. Answering his call. It didn't take long for her to be in front of him. He smirked. "You know your orders, 32."

Her eyes flashed. "Yes, Lord Cetus."

He passed her the dagger from his side. "Take out Modd first, then go for Knud. Show them no mercy."

"Yes, Master."

"When you are done, He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "You will give your life for me. Is that fine with you?"

The green of her eyes flashed against the red. "I will do everything for you Master."

He chuckled. "Good." He walked by her. "Now go."

He heard her footsteps and turned to watch her leave. He teleported out of sight, to the top of a building. He wanted a good spot to watch the bloodshed.

* * *

"Carma, did you get finish the laundry?" He asked.

"Yeah, your uniform is hanging up in the closet." She said from the other room.

He sighed in relief. That was one less thing he had to worry about. Instead, he could focus on building a block tower with Gunner. The small boy was sorting out his blocks by size and color.

He was going to grab one as a loud set of knocks hit his door and he rolled his eyes. He had already told Jose that they were taking some time off. He didn't need him to look after Gunner.

Gunner looked at him with a frown, the boy already expected him to leave. "Don't worry champ. Uncle Jose is not babysitting." The little boy smiled

The knocks became louder and he really wished that he could just pull one of his guns out and take a few shots at the door. Jose didn't need to try and take all of his time from his son.

"Carma, can you get the door?" He called out. She would have to deal with her uncle.

She came into the room, giving him a glare. He already knew that she didn't like the tension between them.

It wasn't like he didn't try; Jose was just difficult. He didn't really want to share his family with anyone.

"Lisanna?" Now that shocked him, as he turned to face a very disheveled Lisanna.

He felt himself start to get up. "What is going on?"

He could already see that she looked like she was crying. "Bickslow…"

"Bickslow? Bickslow what?" His wife asked.

"The demon has possessed him and I don't know what he is going to do." She said quickly, trying to talk through her tears.

His stomach dropped. If Cetus was in control, then everyone was in danger. He told Bickslow on more than one occasion that he needed to have the demon removed. But the seith mage had said that he had everything under control and that Cetus was not a threat anymore. "What do we need to do?"

Carma looked at him worried. As Lisanna continued to cry, he realized what would need to be done. "You need us to use our weapon forms against him."

Lisanna let out a wheal. "Vik believes that it is the only way."

Carma looked like she was also ready to start crying, she knew the price of using that power. "There has to be another way!"

Lisanna shook her head. "There is no time. Cetus is going after the elected officials of Absolon. Vik, Remy, and Ivan have already decided to go after him. I know I'm asking too much of you, but please. Please help me save my husband!"

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

This will be the last calm before the storm, get ready because shit is about to hit the ceiling.


	20. Chapter 20

Both politicians made their way to their podiums as he watched from above. The older man to the right started his speech and he chuckled as he found his little puppet sneaking through the crowd. No one would figure out what she was doing until it was too late.

His eyes scrambled to that dimwit from Fairy Tail, the brother of his host was looking around warily. He must have known that something was up.

To his right, he could see that family of his looking for him in vain. It only wanted him to play with his toys even more. Should he possess another and watch as the sparks began to fly or keep the one toy that he had for now? In all reality, they were no threat to him. None of the other weapons had his power and any S class mage would be no problem.

He looked all around to find another puppet. Maybe the Fairy Tail members would work, but their minds didn't seem as destroyed as his current puppet. He would have to take someone from Absolon to do it.

His eyes caught more than one target and he gave a twisted smile.

He heard the crowd cheer as Modd told them his plans for the future. He only laughed before snapping his figures and sending his first puppet to take down his prey. Now that he had four, he could sit and watch the sparks fly.

* * *

He looked up at the stage. Senator Modd was giving his speech, but he paid no mind. He was on a mission.

32 had to be somewhere. He knew that he wasn't just imagining things back at Lisanna's.

He took a deep breath as his parents looked all around him, scouring for Bickslow, but not finding him. No one said anything. If they did, panic may ensue and the last thing they need was for the crowd to freak out and get in the way.

His eyes looked around the stage again, looking for any clues. He was going to turn to look around when an idea hit him.

He pulled away from his parents, neither of them seeming to notice that he had started towards the stage. If Cetus was going to cause problems, then his first target would be the politicians. Or at least he politician that was going to stand in his way. And from what Modd was saying, he was clearly a target.

Just as he was about to squeeze between two young people, something emerged from the ceiling above Modd. He froze as he saw the girl he knew as a sister drive her magic around her killing all of the body guards on stage in one hit.

The crowd panicked as she pulled a dagger out. "THIS IS FOR FIORE!" She cried.

He didn't know how he moved that fast, but in seconds he was in front of her, pulling one of his old swords out of from his illusion. Striking the dagger as it made to stab Modd in the chest.

Her eyes flashed at him as she looked over him. "You don't want to do this 32!"

She just laughed. "This doesn't concern you!"

She tried to turn around him to send the dagger straight at Magnus instead, forcing him to move twist around her to stop her. He watched as her eyes flashed at him again. "You're being controlled 32! You're stronger that this!"

Around him he knew that the crowd had all ran off. Both Modd and Knud had run from the stage. She growled as his parents came into view. Off to the side, he could hear some screaming.

She giggled as she slid down, sweeping her leg, knocking him to the ground. She whirled around throwing the dagger straight at Modd, who was now standing a couple of yards away arguing with Magnus.

The dagger came within a foot of the senator's face, as a blast of lightening shot it away. He looked over finding the Fairy Tail mage that he once tormented.

The man looked enraged, as he sent a massive blast of lightening his way. He closed his eyes expecting to be hit, but found that he was out of the blasts way. Instead, the brunt of the attack was attempting to shock 32, but there was some kind of barrier between them.

Behind him, he heard two screams of pain and he turned to find both Modd and Knud with what looked like sand, striking them in the abdomen. He heard a number of females screams as both men were pulled underground.

A flash appeared around the Fairy Tail mage, sending lightening out across the courtyard straight at the other Fairy Tail mages. He knew them all, having done horrible things to all of them.

A shield came out protecting the mages. His parents were now standing in front of the person that was using the magic.

He had only seen the man a few times. He must have used his mimic ability to copy the blonde's magic.

He couldn't focus on that right now though, as 32 kicked his side. "You are defying the Master! You turned your back on the Master!"

He couldn't figure out who she was talking about, she was clearly being controlled by Cetus, but somehow it felt like she was talking about Fiore. "Fight it! You don't have to be someone's puppet!" He said, sliding out of the way as she made to kick him in the face. He pushed himself to his feet quickly. As he felt his own eyes flash. He was going to have to take this fight elsewhere.

The darkness came and surrounded the two of them. If he was going to get through to her. This was the only way.

* * *

He looked at the cloud of darkness and noted that Rosa was now in the illusion with 55. He could now focus on the asshole that had chosen to attack his wife and friends.

He looked around himself as he saw the mage that he had seen at the grand magic games. The man made a hissing noise. His black eyes flashing red. "My massster wantssss your head." Kurohebi said.

He glared at the man, did he really think that he had a chance against him. Last time the mage tried to attack him back in the games, he had taken him out with one punch. "Stand down. You are no match for me." He stated.

The mimic mage laughed, as turned to sand and disappeared from view. He stood waiting for the man mage to attack, expecting for him to try and come at him from behind.

The sting came to the side of his face as he was punched in the face. He was knocked onto his back as runes covered the area around him. He was using Freed's magic against him.

He jumped back to his feet, sending electricity around him. His opponent maked a shield just as it was about to strike. "You really think that you can beat me?" The mimic mages eyes stayed completely red.

"So you like being a puppet?" He said, not taking his eyes off of his opponent.

"My Massster is none of your concern. I will give him what he wantssss." The man wasn't even blinking anymore. Hell, was the man even alive? It was almost like he was a walking corpse.

"And who is your Master?" He said preparing to attack.

The man laughed. "Maybe if you beat me, you will find out!"

* * *

He looked behind him. He could see Lisanna's siblings staring at his back.

"What is going on!" The woman with the purple hair said.

"I will have to explain later. Remy will get you to a safe house from here." He said.

His lover gave him an annoyed look. "You really think that I am going to leave you here alone?"

"Come back after you drop them off. I'll be fine." He said.

Remy glared at him. "One of our children just got consumed and the other is around here somewhere pulling the strings! I can't just leave!"

"The longer you wait, worse it's going to get! You need to get them out of here. Lisanna will be happy to see them anyway." He stated.

"My sister is alive…" He heard the woman with the long white hair say in shock.

He grabbed Remy's shoulder. "The boys will still be here when you get back. Just get them out of here. Laxus and I will hold down everything until you return."

"What about Warner and Carma?" Remy asked.

"They must be with Lisanna or on their way here. You can always bring them if they are. Now go!" He said pushing Remy away.

The other still looked conflicted, but turned to the Fairy Tail mages. "I will take you to your sister. She will explain everything."

"What about my husband?" The Lisanna's sister asked.

"Ivan will be here and I will return. Laxus is stronger than most so I believe that he will be fine. We just need to get you out of here." They didn't look like they were going to question him as he wretched out to them. As soon as they all had a hold of each other, Remy's eyes flashed and they were gone.

He sighed as made to run to Laxus's aid, but forceful, searing pain hit his back. Almost as if a thousand needles were stabbing him over and over.

He felt himself cough up blood as he was hit again, send him flying over onto his back.

His attacker was laughing, his purple face and blond hair in contrast with his glowing red eyes. "Well if it isn't my old guild Master, Ivan-san."

His back felt wet, blood was seeping through his clothes. He touched his back feeling how many holes now covered him. His hand came back around and he stared down at his hand covered in blood.

He looked up at his attacker. "You have made a mistake, Nullpudding." The ground around them began to change as he set up the illusion. He pulled himself to his feet. He didn't care if this man was being controlled by Cetus. He had just gotten in the middle of him and the child that he had never been able to know. "Prepare yourself!"

* * *

He wanted to go out to the square, but for some reason, Lisanna insisted on going back to her house.

He sighed. They weren't going to get anywhere with this.

His son was on the floor with Xenia now and two teenagers seemed to be sitting in the dining room talking.

"Why are we just sitting here?!" He asked annoyed.

His wife placed her hand over his. "The others are going to come back with news. We have to be patient."

He looked over at the screen and found that nothing was on it. It was like the cable lines were down or something. There was no way that he could be comfortable with this.

The room filled up with quite a few people as Remy teleported in. Lisanna cried out as she launched herself at two people that had to be her siblings. All of the newcomers looked perplexed. Like they had just had the wind knocked out of them.

Remy on the other hand, made it over to him. "I need to go back. Are you coming with me?"

He nodded, looking over to his wife. "Stay here with Gunner."

She gave him a slight nod, right before he and Remy teleported back.

As they materialized in the square, he could see the look of panic on Remy's face. "Ivan?" He was looking around desperately for his husband.

As he looked around himself. He could see that there was a massive wall of black. That had to be where Vik was. He could also see a fight going on between that Laxus guy and Kurohebi.

He made to walk forward, but Remy put out his hand and stopped him just as a bullet made it through the air. He looked over and froze as a young woman came into view. Her red hair was blowing in the breeze and her eyes were red.

She only stared at him as she popped her gum. "So I get to play with someone, finally. I don't know what is taking her so long, but you will do."

For some reason, he felt some kind of connection to her. "Who are you?"

She laughed. "That is none of your business, peasant."

He activated his own magic, pulling out two guns of his own. His weapon mode activated as well.

She frowned for a second, almost shaking her head. "How can you do that?! Only the Master's fighters can do that!" Her eyes flashed down from the weapon red to dark brown that was the same as his.

"Are you by any chance an agent for the King of Fiore?" It was just a hunch. But looking at her, there had to be no other option. If she was Carma's sister, she would have had darker skin, but this girl was pale.

She almost dropped her gun. "Who are you?" Her voice was almost panicked.

He lowered both of his guns. "I'm your brother."

She looked over him almost speechless. "That's impossible!"

He made to walk towards her. "You've been lied to, 25."

She looked like she was about to cry. She made to put down her gun, but then froze up. Screaming as if something was entering her brain. She fell to her knees as she pulled at her hair. Fighting against whatever was trying to get in.

He couldn't help himself, as he ran forward. Throwing his weapons to the ground as he made it to her side. "Fight it!"

She grabbed onto his arm, looking completely terrified. "Help me." She said as her eyes faded to a bloody red. She began to laugh in a sadistic manner. He only had seconds to get away from her, as she made to grab for her gun again.

The two of them stood there with their guns locked on each other. "Master Remy."

The older man was still behind him, looking on at what had happened in shock.

"Find, Bickslow! Get rid of Cetus because if I have to kill my own sister, I won't hesitate to kill him!" He almost pleaded. He hated begging, but he couldn't help it. She wanted freedom, he could see it in her eyes.

The older nodded, before teleporting away. Leaving him with his sister. Hoping that he could save her.

* * *

Above the city, he looked down still laughing to himself. He turned around to look at his prisoners. Both Modd and Knud were knocked out, but they were still alive.

He would fix that soon. The country already believed them to be dead anyway.

Modd shook his head, coming to. "Where am I? Magnus? Hey Magnus wake up!"

He chuckled. "Do you really think that puppet of mine is going to say anything."

"Who are you?" Modd said fearfully.

He smirked. "That is a good question. Miresa has long forgotten me. The masses seem to have enjoyed this putrid thing called peace."

"You wish for war!" The politician yelled at him angrily.

He only cackled. "I wasn't the only one." He pointed to Knud. "That puppet was the one that suggested the idea to my host. After that I have been pulling the strings, and I hate to say…who am I kidding. I love to say that I was called to eliminate you, well my host was."

"You're not making any sense." Modd stated.

He turned his back on the human. "No one will get in my way. This war shall happen. And I will take my place as the ruler of this place once again!"

"Ruler? What are you talking about? Absolon always has been a democratic nation. The human said angrily.

He glared down at the ground below him. "Yes, Absolon has always been a filthy, democracy, but my Miresa wasn't….it was beautiful. Something greater than any dream…. but everyone has forgotten! Everyone must pay for their insolence. I will not be silent anymore!"

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _Damn, looks like things have not only gone to hell, but look now we have four separate battles, some reunited families, and the backstory of Cetus. It all depends on what you want to read first. Lol. Also quick credit to Paupus, which kind of inspired the idea of using the other Raven Tail members. I didn't know how I could fit them in until I starting writing this._


	21. Chapter 21

Where was he? The last thing he remembered was being in Xenia's room. This place was almost like walking around in a dark alley after night with no end in sight. There were no sounds or even signs of anyone living there. Instead, there were some strange mirrors along the walls. Each of them lit up with a different kind of color of light, but it wasn't enough light to light up the ally way.

"They must be memories." He said to himself as he got close to one. This had to be Cetus's mind. These had to be his memories. Maybe he could find a way out if he got a peak at them.

He reached forward and felt as he was taken there.

 _Flashback_

 _He smirked to himself as he walked through the city. His follower seemed happy as the festival continued. He was 16 today, so of course his people would be celebrating._

 _Beams of magic shot up into the sky, lighting it up as they took different forms._

" _Everyone looks happy, sire." His advisor said at his side._

" _Good." He said looking pleased with himself, as some of the small children ran around. Some of them were using magic as they played a game in the square. But his eyes weren't on them. They were on a lone girl sitting by the fountain. He watched as she pulled a lock of her hair red hear back behind here ear as she read a book. She seemed completely entranced in her reading. From what he could tell, it was a book of spells._

 _Suddenly a young boy with, blond hair ran in front of her, splashing mud on her and the book._

 _He felt himself scowl at the boy for his stupid actions._

 _He took no time walking over to the boy, who was in rags and tossing him to the side. He could tell by the look of him that he was common street filth. He was one of them._

" _Lord Cepheus, you don't need to be so mean. He's just a child." The young girl chastised him as the boy ran off._

" _That boy has no magic, Cassiopeia. There is no reason for him to even be here." He stated angrily, his red eyes almost flashing after the boy._

 _She put her book down on the side of the fountain. "You know as well as I do that they have rights just like everyone else." She said._

" _Oh please. They are a waste of space. The last thing that we need is for them to breed with our kind. Can you imagine what kind of world that would be? The disorder of it all." He began his tirade._

" _They are harmless." She said, watching as the children around them began to play again._

" _It doesn't help that many of our kind our moving south. Apparently, a new country his being formed there. My Sister, Nerida is on her way there now." He said, quite pleased with his sister's marriage. One of the dukes had founded this place that he called Fiore and they were in the middle of setting it up for his sister to be named Queen. She and the duke now King, Nidhug Fiore, were stating that it would be a paradise for those who used magic._

 _He laughed at their claims. Everyone was only flocking there so that they could see the new world. They would be back after they tired of Fiore and return to Miresa._

" _You don't see them as a threat?" Cassiopeia asked, her blue eyes almost glistening in the sunlight._

 _He chuckled. "They are no threat to my kingdom. In the end, we will just expand outward anyway. Noble blood will mix and the kingdoms will be one in about 50 year's tops."_

 _She gave him a smile. "So you plan for your child to marry your sisters then?" Teasing him._

 _He laughed. "No, I'll just have my child take it by force. I figured that I would let my sister have her fun at being a queen. She should know that she is a queen of nothing anyway."_

" _Speaking of Queens, aren't you expected to marry within the next year, your highness." She was giggling as he blushed._

 _He had known this girl from his childhood and she was already betrothed to another. But it didn't mean that his heart didn't ache for her. "I have not yet decided."_

 _She laughed again. "That is because you are a stubborn man, Cepheus. You don't know what you want."_

 _How wrong she was. He knew what he wanted. It was only a question of whether or not he could have it. "It's not my fault that they are all so boring. Come on, let us take a walk."_

 _She gave him a smile as he offered her his hand. His heart was going crazy when she took it and they began to walk away from the festival. He wanted to be alone with her anyway._

 _They walked in silence for a goof couple of minutes, reaching one of the gates that over looked the countryside, he gave her a smile. "Do you want to see the top?"_

 _She looked wary. "You know that it is against your father's word. Those are for the military only."_

" _Yes, but we won't be there long." He began to climb up the wall. "Trust me."_

 _She shook her head but followed him anyway._

 _When they reached the top, the sun was just starting to set. Making the sky match her hair._

 _She practically ran to the side, overlooking everything. "It's beautiful."_

 _He came up beside her, turning on his magic and taking her hand. The night sky filled with wispy souls. As he looked over, he could see how entranced she was with everything._

 _Her eyes turned to look at him, looking as if she was going to ask him something, but stopped when their eyes met. He could feel her trembling next to him as he leaned down and kissed her. His heart began beat faster as she started to kiss him back._

 _He had never felt so happy in his life. Everything was finally perfect. He would talk to his father. He had to have her as his queen._

 _Flashback ends_

He pulled away as the memory faded, almost lost for words. Cassiopeia looked just like Flare did, well except for her blue eyes. And not only that, the magic that Cepheus was using. It looked just like his own. But how did Cepheus relate to Cetus? He had not seen the demon once during that entire sequence of events.

He had to get to the bottom of this. Lisanna and the others would have to wait a little longer. The key to him getting out had to be in here. Lost among the memories. It would just take him time to sort through them.

* * *

The darkness overcame them as he looked over 32. Once they were in the new realm, he could see her freeing herself from the control that she was under. Cetus's magic couldn't reach her here.

Her eyes were cloudy as she woke up, but when she did, her eyes went wide at the sight of him. "55? Why are you here? Am I dead?"

"No. Your alive 32." He stated.

He watched as her face changed. Multiple emotions crossed her face at once. Like she couldn't decide what she wanted to feel. "How are you here? You should be dead." She made to step forward, but he made a small rift in the floor. As much as he would love to hug his sister, he just couldn't let here near him. Not yet.

"It's a long story." He said, not taking his eyes off of her.

She looked at him confused. "55, I need to know what you have been doing. Our Master will want to know that you are alive."

Here's where her kindness would end. "I don't have a Master anymore."

She backed up as she saw how serious he was. "How can you say that? Master gave you everything!"

He chuckled. "Everything but the truth. I know everything now, there is no reason to return to his side when I know of the atrocities that he has done." He pulled his jacket off, exposing his guild mark. She gasped. He knew that she knew the mark of Raven Tail. They had all seen it. "55 is dead, he's been dead for years. Viktor Resus is who I really am."

* * *

He kept his gun aimed at 25, as she looked at him in disgust. "You don't want this 25."

She laughed. "But I do. My master wishes it."

He felt his finger slightly grip the trigger. "And who is your Master? And are you really okay with being his slave?"

The smirk on her face fell. "I'm not a slave. I can leave my Master anytime."

He felt himself smile at her. He could definitely see the resemblance now. "Then why don't you do that now? What is stopping you?"

He could see some fight in her eyes. She was trying to pull free of Cetus's control, but at the same time he could see her thinking about herself.

"You're just trying to confuse me!" She said, cocking the gun.

"No, I'm trying to free you." He said it as calmly as he could with a gun pointed at him.

"Why?" She said, her gun wavering in the air.

He couldn't help but smile. "I said it before. I am your brother. If you put the gun down. I can explain everything."

He could see that Cetus's control was weakening on her. She had to be really hard headed or something. The demon probably found the loophole he needed when he told her about their relationship.

He watched as she dropped the gun again, screaming as she held her head. Fighting as hard as she could to regain her mind back.

He threw his gun down and went to her. This time kicking her weapon out of arms reach. "You can do this! Don't let yourself be controlled! You're a Brass, dammit!"

She was shaking as he made to hug her. He couldn't have his grandmother or his parents. But he was going to have his sister, one way or another.

He watched as the red in her eyes faded back to the dark brown and she fidgeted a little. Shaking her head back and as if trying to pull herself out of a trance. "Where am I?"

"You're in Absolon's capital, 25." He was already starting to hate that name. Now he knew why Remy and Ivan made it a point to change Viks as soon as possible.

"I don't understand. You…" She tried to back away from him. Fearful of the words he was about to say.

"Sis, you need to calm down. I'm not your enemy." He said, watch as her eyes scanned her surroundings.

"I still don't understand. My family is dead. How are you alive?" She looked like she wanted to cry, but she had too much pride to.

"6 of us were made 25, but only you and I share DNA." He stated. He knew he needed to take this slow, but this wasn't the place to do it.

"Made? What do you mean by made?" She sounded frantic, he could tell that the pieces were starting to fit together in her head.

"We will finish talking when we get out of here. Who knows where Cetus is." He said looking around. He hoped that Remy was having good luck in finding where the demon had gone.

"Cetus?" He could tell that now that she had one answer, she was going to want them all. He felt himself smile to himself. Finally, she would be free of the King's control.

"A demon. It has possessed one of our kind. One Bickslow Resus, older brother of Viktor Resus. You may know Vik by another name. Does 55 ring a bell?" He found himself teasing her a little bit.

She looked dumbfounded. "55 is alive? But that doesn't make sense. The blast killed him."

"Trust me, he is plenty alive." He said picking up his guns from the ground and storing them away. "Now come on, let's get you back to base."

"What are you going to do?" She sounded worried. Confused but worried.

"I have to return. Who knows what is going to happen here."

* * *

He could hear Magus as the man started to come to.

He frowned. Unlike Modd, he was bound to make some noise. He strode over to Knud. The time for games was over.

"What are you doing?" Modd asked as he came closer.

"Just getting rid of some garbage, that's all." He placed his hand on the man's shoulder. It would only take him a couple of minutes and Knud would be dispatched.

He watched as Magnus eyes went wide as he stared at him. "What are you doing? This wasn't the plan?" He could hear the fear in his voice and he loved it.

"Now Magnus, I thought you wanted a war. How about you tell Modd over there how you told me to end his life." He said pointing at the other man with a sly look on his face.

Knud looked embarrassed. "I just told you to get rid of him, not to kill him."

"But you never objected to the idea, did you?" His words silenced both men. "Besides, you have done nothing but destroy this place. All of you have."

"What are you talking about?" Modd said. The man seemed really intrigued with what he had to say.

"Not one of you uses magic, less than half of this country does!" He said glaring at the politician.

"Having magic doesn't make a good leader." Modd argued.

"No. Things were beautiful back then. My kind were in control and your kind were regulated to the street, where you belong."

"That is not how everything works Cetus." He turned to find the father of his host staring at him. How had he not sensed him coming. "The world has grown since your time."

He chuckled. "Do you think that your words will calm me enough to free your son from my grasp?"

The man stepped forward. "I can at least try."

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _I figured that I could start these chapters with the bits and pieces of Cetus's past, then go on to the rest to of the story._

 _This is early this week, as I am going on vacation for a week starting on Weds night._


	22. Chapter 22

Bickslow walked over to the next mirror in line and looked in. It looked like it took place a few years later.

 _Cepheus looked over at Cassiopeia as she bounced a small child on her lap. He smirked as the child began to suck his thumb. He had dark blue hair that had to be his father's._

" _How is our little prince?" He asked as she rocked him._

 _His wife's eyes shined up at him. "He's perfectly healthy."_

 _He watched as the boy fell asleep in his mother's arms. It didn't take long and she soon stood and placed him in his crib. "I didn't think you would come today." She said sadly._

 _He frowned. "Soon, my love. Once my father realizes that we can't be pulled apart and that I have provided him with an heir, he will accept our marriage. He has no choice."_

 _She walked over to him, looking as if she were about to cry. "I don't want you doing anything dangerous."_

 _He gave her a small smile. "As long as I have you, I have every reason to be safe." He leaned down and kissed her forehead._

The memory ended and Bickslow stepped away. That answered nothing. Deciding that he needed to know more, he stepped over to the next mirror.

" _Stand down father. You have lost." Cepheus said looking down at his father, blood stained his clothes and he had a red gleam to his eye._

" _You have no idea what you are doing! A kingdom built on blood will not survive!" The old man screamed from the ground._

" _If only you had allowed me Cassiopeia from the start. Then this would have been avoided. But no. I had to marry one of some daughter of a lord who had no magic. Do you seriously think that I would allow my blood to become tainted with that?!" He said, placing his sword at his father's neck._

" _Son, we can talk this out! You don't have to do this!" His father begged._

 _He smirked as he brought the blade down on the man's neck, cutting his head off and letting it roll away on the floor. "It already has. Miresa belongs to me and I will do with it as I see fit."_

Bickslow backed up again as the memory faded. Things were starting to make some sense in his mind, but he still had too many questions. Why was Cetus remembering this? Was this the man that he had possessed years ago? If so, why did he carry these memories now? He cursed, why did the demon's mind have to be so complicated.

* * *

Ivan barely had enough time to get out of the way as Nullpudding tossed some more needles his way. Even in his own world of illusion, he wasn't safe.

He needed to finish this quickly, the wounds on his back were deep and he could feel his blood cascading down his back.

He was forced to roll out of the way as another set of needles few his way. His eyes looked them over as they stung into the ground.

He looked back at his attacker. He was just a young man. One that probably had this life ahead of him. But he could no longer let him live. Not only was he under Cetus's control, he knew too much about their guild. He had no idea what Cetus was planning, but he couldn't allow the demon to hurt the rest of his family. The longer he stayed here, the longer Bickslow remained possessed.

He began to mess with the space that they were in. It didn't take long for the world to enclose around the purple man's body. He felt sorry for the man, but this was all that he could do. Cetus's pull was too strong. He wondered if any of the others would be able to brake free.

He stood and listened to the screams of terror as he commanded the world to crush the young mage. It was for the his own good. No one deserved to live their time out as a slave. That was what he told himself.

He couldn't remember the last time he had taken a life. Was it 3 years or 4 years since then? The time away had made him soft to the sounds of death.

This was almost like seeing it again for the first time. His mind flashed back to his first kill. He was on a mission with Remy and there was a guard that had ended up following them. They had no choice. He remembered that they didn't talk about it for a couple of weeks. Only because they were forced to do it again. Soon it became as normal as breathing.

He cringed at the sound of bones braking. It was madding really. The first time Remy had been there. This time he was going in alone. At least the screams had stopped. The only sounds present in the void were the last bit of cracking and his labored breathing.

He felt himself go weak. He felt light headed. Those needles didn't just cut him open. He felt sick to his stomach, this had to be poison. It wouldn't be the first time he came across it.

The void faded around him and he was back in the square. He could hear some fighting in the background, but it faded in and out. The world around him looked blurry as he found himself getting weaker. He tried to take a step forward, but his body was too heavy. He felt the hard pavement against his body as he fell to the ground.

The world around him began to go in and out, before fading to black.

* * *

Lisanna hugged her sister against her once more. "How did you get here?"

Mira only cried into her as an answer. The rest of the people in the room looked flabbergasted.

Ever looked at her darkly. "I believe the question is, how are you alive? Raven Tail was killed by the blast that hit your guild three years ago."

She backed up a little. "We barely made it out alive. One of our own got back to us in time, so we were able to evacuate the guild." She knew that would only make them ask more questions.

But thankfully Freed was there. She would have preferred Laxus to tell them, but he was busy at the moment. "They fled here under the agreement that they would prepare this country for a war with our own. They did what they were asked, but they hit a snag."

Everyone turned to glare at Freed. "You knew!" Mira said running to slap him.

She moved herself between the man and her sister. "Mira, he only found out a couple of days ago. I ran into him and Laxus in the street. I told them everything."

Mira looked offended. "You didn't trust me enough to tell me?"

She shook her head. "We had no choice. It was dangerous to come out. Our guild had to hide, even here. I worried that if I told you, they would come after you."

"But why Laxus and Freed?" Elfman asked.

"I thought only Laxus would follow me. But Freed came to. I was scared, I still am. I don't know what is going to happen to my family and I panicked." She tried to hold back her tears but was failing. She knew that he was still out there, using her husband like a puppet.

Ever raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about Bickslow? I figured that we would have seen him by now."

She felt herself fall to her knees. Why did she have to bring up her husband's name? She was still wondered if she would ever see him again. This morning was the first time she truly had seen her husband in a long time.

The world around her moved, but she didn't register anything. They had to be putting her on the couch, but she had no way of knowing that. Their voices were all muffled, it was almost like she couldn't hear them. She felt a little dizzy, but stayed conscious.

" _This place is weird. I wonder why this is here?"_ The voice rang though her head and she practically stood up. She looked around the room frantically. She knew that she just heard her husband's voice.

"Lisanna, what is it?" Her sister asked, looking scared.

She started to walk away from them, into the kitchen. When it sounded again. _"Seriously, why does Cetus have so many memories of these people?"_

" _Bickslow?"_ She thought his name, hoping that he could hear here.

The voice froze. _"Liz? How can you hear me?"_

She covered her mouth, she felt like crying but her eyes were all dried up. _"I thought you were dead."_

" _No, I'm just stuck in the back of Cetus's mind now."_ He said in her thoughts.

" _Can you get out?"_ She asked desperate to feel some glimmer of hope.

He sighed. _"I don't know. Right now all I can see are this assholes memories. Once I get through here, I may be able to find something. Don't lose hope yet."_

" _I haven't, I'm just worried. I want you back home with me and our daughter."_ She thought back.

" _That's my plan, but until I get answers, I think I'm stuck here."_ He said, not sounding happy about his new living arrangements.

She almost laughed. It had been a long time since she had heard him speak in that tone. _"Just know that I love you. Come back to me, okay."_

" _I love you too, Liz. Make sure to hug Xenia extra tight for me."_ His voice faded away again.

She felt herself smile to herself. "That idiot."

She walked back into the living room, only to find Mira and Elfman gushing over her daughter. The little girl's turned purple \ and they were all pushed out for a second.

"Lisanna? Are you okay?" Laki asked.

She nodded. "Things have just been hard." She walked forward and the shield faded away once Xenia saw her. "I don't think you are going to get a nap today."

Her daughter let out a giggle, as Mira walked back over to her, gushing again. "You didn't say anything about having a baby."

"Papaw" The little girl said clapping her hands together.

She smiled down at her daughter's enthusiasm. "It didn't come up."

She felt someone pull on her leg and she looked down to see Gunner looking up at her. "Can I play with Xexe?" He asked.

Ever pushed her glasses back. "Leave it to Bickslow to name this daughter something like that."

She only laughed. "Her name isn't Xexe, Gunner just can't pronounce her name." She put her daughter down. "Gunner, can you say Xenia?"

"Xexe." The boy said stubbornly.

Across the room, Carma laughed. "He's as stubborn as his father, I swear."

"Speaking of father's, where is Bickslow?" Freed asked.

She sighed, she felt better after he had contacted her, but she still felt uneasy about it. She pointed to the chaos that was all over the TV. "Before we left Raven Tail, there was a demon that lived in that place. Bickslow made a deal with it that allowed us to survive, but there was a cost. He would be forced to share his body with it. This morning, it came to collect." The room around her grew quiet. "I know that the monster behind those attacks in the square is using him. He's being controlled like a puppet and he can't do anything about it. He doesn't even have a clue for how to break free from it." She said, not taking her eyes off of the screen. "And even if he did. He would be tried as a criminal."

Freed walked up and looked at the screen. "So the reason he was acting strange was the demon finally taking over him."

She nodded at him. "Today is Xenia's birthday. He said he was going to spend the day with us. He took her upstairs and that's when I heard him start screaming. He told me to go get a knife and by the time I got back to her room, he was gone."

The room stayed quiet after that. No one said anything. They didn't have to. She only hoped that it wasn't too late and that he could be saved. If not, she didn't know if she could take it.

To Be Continued….

 _Author's Note_

 _Sorry about this being late. I just started school again and finished up my other big story on this site, so most of my time went to that. I did have one announcement; this story is moving to an update schedule on Sundays. That way I have time to study for my classes._


	23. Chapter 23

After speaking with his wife, Bickslow desperately wanted to find the next mirror. There had be something else around here. Cepheus's past had to have more clues in it.

He grabbed the next mirror, hoping for the best.

 _The young king walked as he smiled to himself. He had been away for a couple of days and couldn't wait to see his wife. Cassiopeia had some news for him and he couldn't let her wait any longer._

 _As he opened the door, his heart plummeted. His beloved was on the floor, her body still._

 _He ran forward, calling for his guards. He turned her over frantically, to find her pale. Her eyes looked up at him sadly. "I'm sorry, my love." Her voice was labored as the light faded from her eyes._

 _He felt it instantly, her soul left her body leaving him crying out as if in loss. In the background, his son cried. His eyes turned to his son, who was barely a toddler. "Did you see who did this?!" His voice almost yelled at his son and the boy flinched back._

" _There was a strange person, daddy. They gave mommy something to drink." The boy said, cowering against the wall._

 _He growled. No magic user would stoop to using poison. It was one of them. Those scum. "Get my son to safety!" He said turning to his guards. His rage was building as he exited the room. The trash below would pay for her death._

 _He felt a small tug on his soul. It wanted to leave his body and go with hers. He growled, cursing his families most sacred tradition. He had to plan his revenge. If he wasn't around, they would not be punished._

 _He ignored the tug, almost running from the castle. Her killer couldn't be that far. He would do what he had to and rip the man limb from limb._

 _As he turned a corner, he looked at over at the small pond that sat in the corner of the courtyard. To his surprise, there was a strange old woman was sitting in front of it._

 _He stocked over to it and found the woman smiling at him. He glared, he had never seen her here before. "Who are you?!" He growled, was this the person he was looking for?_

 _She only laughed. "You are on short time, are you not?"_

 _He raised an eyebrow. Did this woman know the power that his family had? If she was, she had to be the one that went after his beloved. His eyes flashed. "Why?! Why did you kill my wife?!"_

 _She giggled. "It was not I. You already know who did it. It was them. They were jealous of your love. Of your power."_

 _They? "What are you talking about?"_

 _The cackling continued. "Those without magic wish to destroy you. They know your weakness. You will die without having your revenge. Leaving your child to grow up under their scrutiny."_

 _He found himself pacing. The woman was right. If he didn't do something quick, he would die and Cassiopeia would have died in vain. Their son would be left to the vultures if he faded away. "There's nothing I can do." He whispered._

 _The woman only cackled. "But Lord Cepheus, there is something. You just don't know it."_

 _He looked up at her in shock. "What are you talking about?! You know the rules of this. I have no time. In fact, I'm wasting time talking to you!" He made to turn away from her. He had to go after those that wanted his kingdom before they destroyed his legacy._

" _You can live. You can stay in this life and watch over your son. You can have you revenge." His face turned back to the woman. "For a price that is."_

" _A price?" He questioned._

" _All you need is to rid yourself of your soul. If you do that, the effects of the meteor shower will not work. Not only will you live, you will gain much more." She said._

" _Like what?" He said._

 _She chuckled. "How about armies that summon at your word. The power to conquer everything without fail. The power to bring back the one you love."_

 _His eyes grew wide. "Cassiopeia…"_

 _The woman walked around him. "She won't come back instantly; it will take time. She will be reborn, in a new body. You will find her someday…. that is if you sell me your soul, Cepheus."_

 _He froze, how could he refuse? He couldn't die. His wife would be returned to him. All he would have to do is wait. He could raise his son go after those that harmed them. He could make the world submit to him. "Yes."_

 _She giggled. "Yes what?"_

" _I want it. Take my soul, it is useless to me at this point. It is a small price to pay for my love to be returned to me." He growled._

 _She giggled and reached her hand out to him. He took it without question. As soon as he did, pain radiated from his chest. He wanted to scream as he heard a loud tearing noise. It was almost like he was hearing his skin ripping to pieces only it was his soul ripping violently from his body. The world went dark as he let out one last breath._

 _He opened his eyes. The world looked different as he stood in the courtyard. He looked around and the woman was gone. He looked down at the water below and found that his eyes were different. His pupils were only slits. It was astonishing that he didn't have to breathe._

 _He turned and let out a laugh. He was invincible._

 _One of the guards came out into the courtyard. "Lord Cepheus, we have locked down the castle, but we have not found the culprit."_

 _He continued to laugh. "Line up those without magic. I will exterminate them for their crime."_

" _But your majesty…."_

 _The man began to shake as he forced the man to his knees. "You will listen to me. Get the foul trash from the street. They must die."_

" _Lord Cepheus…"_

 _He chuckled, what a stupid name that was. What a common name for his dirty father to call him. He would give himself a new name. "Cepheus is dead…You will call me Cetus from this say forward."_

" _Yes, Lord Cetus."_

He was pushed from the mirror and sat there in shock. He couldn't believe it. Sure, he suspected it, but Cetus was once human, and not just any human, the king of Absolon, before it was Absolon.

His mind turned back to the elephant in the room. There was no denying that he shared a bloodline with Cetus. The child had to have continued the line down to his father and finally to himself.

He wondered what that reincarnation thing was. Did that mean that Cassiopeia was alive again, but how? There was no way that that was possible…

He froze. Flare. It had to be. It was the only thing that made sense. She was on Cetus's radar from the moment that he met her. He didn't doubt that he went to her side before going after the Modd.

But he still had questions, what of Cetus's son? What happened to Miresa and how did Cetus get locked underground? He sighed, every time he thought he learned something, he found more questions.

He growled under his breath. This was going to take forever.

* * *

Laxus moved out of the way as the Kurohebi, sent another one of his blots back at him.

"There'sss no ussse. Give up." The man cackled.

He growled, frustrated with himself. He was stronger than this. Kurohebi shouldn't have the upper hand. How was this guy the same guy that he faced at the Grand Magic Games?

The truth was that it wasn't this is the man he faced. This was the demon that was controlling Bickslow, he would have to think like a demon to defeat it.

He felt another strike meet his back and turned to face the man. He would not run and there was no way that he was going to be beaten back by his own magic.

Kurohebi sent another strike his way and he caught it with his hand, holding it as it thrashed violently between them. The man didn't have time to think as he pulled the electric current forward right into a punch to the jaw.

The man fell to the ground, passing out beneath him. He watched as his eyes faded back to black before going unconscious.

He sighed, why did he think this guy was a threat again? The coward was known for sneak attacks, so he couldn't be that strong to begin with.

He turned to find, his father passed out on the ground. Blood was everywhere. Beside him, laid the crushed corpse of what had to be the purple guy. He couldn't remember his name, but knew that it had to be him.

He didn't think, only pulling his father's body up as a man ran to him. He recognized the man that came forward. "I didn't expect to see you." Warner said, looking over Ivan.

"Same to you." He looked back at his father. "We need to get him to Lisanna's."

Warner only nodded. "If only Remy was around, then we could get him healed up. But it looks like we're going to have to run him."

He nodded. "Are the others already there?"

"Yes, your comrades are with Lisanna and my wife." The gunman stated.

"And what of Bickslow?" He asked.

Warner sighed. "Maybe Remy knows; Cetus is the one in control now."

He almost growled under his breath. "When this is over, Bickslow and I are having a long talk."

* * *

Flare awoke in her bed, almost smiling to herself. She couldn't believe that Bickslow had come for her. She almost giggled to herself. It felt so magical really. The way he looked at her. His kiss. The way his body molded against her own as they made love. It was almost as if they were made to fit each other.

She sighed. But what of Lisanna? She would surely, get in her way. She cursed the white haired, goody two shoes. She hated her. Everything about her made her cringe. She didn't deserve Bickslow's love.

She pulled herself out of bed, happy that she was still undressed. Her body still tingling from the rapture that she was given that morning. If only she could get him to do it again.

Then it hit her. A twisted idea that would easily bring the white puff ball to her knees. Bickslow shared a child with Lisanna. She could too.

If she could get him to come back to her over and over again, she could surely bare them a child. One that would be the star of his father's eye. She would bare him a son. Something that Lisanna failed to do.

She smirked to herself. All she had to do was find him. She was sure that she could seduce him again. From the way he acted, he must have really wanted her. She didn't even care that he called her some strange name as he took her. Just the loving way that he stared at her as they made love was enough.

He would be hers. There was no way around it.

* * *

Remy looked walked around the man that was using his son's body, just as he felt Magnus die. His soul left his body only leaving Modd strapped into his clay dummy.

"You can't win Remy. I don't even know why you are still here. Your Ivan is in danger, close to death, from what I can tell." The demon prodded.

He could feel it, Ivan was pressed for time, which meant that he was also in danger. "Give me Modd and I will leave." He hated to do this. He hated leaving that thing in his son's body.

Cetus only laughed. "You really want him?" The straps came loose and Modd was flung down at him. He barely caught him as the monster laughed. "I suggest you get out of Miresa before I stake my claim." The monster turned and looked at him and he swore he was looking at his own child for a second, before he was pulled under again. "Get out of my country."

He only looked at his son, for what may have been the last time. He felt tears sting his eyes as they faded to yellow, taking himself and the bleeding senator to the ground.

He looked up at Laxus, to find the boy look at him in anger. He only offered his hand after seeing Ivan. It would take the rest of his power to heal both the senator and his husband. "We need to get back to Lisanna. Then we need to get to Fairy Tail. Cetus is going to do a lock down on the city. I don't know what his full plan is, but we need as many reinforcements as possible."

He hated giving his order. He was taking about going after his own child. All it did was pain him from the inside out.

Laxus sighed. He must have known that this was the only way as well.

They grabbed onto him and disappeared back to the house, where fate would either save them or destroy them.

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _No Remy, you can't leave without Vik….or can you…I'm so mean._


	24. Chapter 24

Bickslow walked down the hall again. The last couple of mirrors were at the end. He practically ran towards them, hoping to get the last bit of information. But a wall come up in front of him.

"I see that you are having fun." Cetus's voice said from behind him.

He turned around, to see the Cetus's human form. The man that was once Cepheus. "Give me my body back!" He lunged forward, but only went through the demon.

Cetus only chuckled. "There is nothing that you can do, Bickslow. This all belongs to me. No matter what you do or see, it won't help you."

"You really think that this is what Cassiopeia would have wanted!" He yelled at the monster.

He was punched hard in the face. "Don't you defile her name with your tongue. You know nothing, peasant."

He growled. "What about your child then? What happened to him?"

Cetus only glared at him. "That is none of your concern!" Cetus turned his back to him. "Your family has abandoned you. Soon the country of Absolon will be my Miresa again. Even if you are able to get past me, you will be hunted and hated. Its best if you listen to me. Stay here, together we can be immortal."

"What about Lisanna? My daughter? I can't abandon them. Besides, I would rather stay with them, instead of you!" Bickslow said.

Cetus only smirked. "I don't know about the powder puff, but your daughter is interesting."

Bickslow glared at him. "Leave Xenia out of this!"

Cetus began to fade out. "I'm sorry dear Bickslow, but my mind has been made up." With a turn of the demon's hand, he was pushed into a wall. The room was filling with some kind of gel. Before he knew it he was surrounded and the world went black. "As I said Bickslow. I will take what is mine."

* * *

Remy looked around Lisanna's home as they teleported in. He knew that they didn't have much time. Cetus would cut them off to everything, but then there was the problem of Vik. His youngest child was still somewhere in the city, much to his dismay.

Lisanna looked at him sadly as he looked over the rest of the room. They didn't have a choice. "We have to go to Fairy Tail. This country is about to be over run."

Laxus didn't look happy, really no one looked happy. But this had to be done. "What about Vik?" Kitt said coming forward. Him and Edvin looked perturbed at the idea of leaving him.

"I don't know where he is, but at this point, we have no choice. It's either stay here and live under Cetus's thumb or go to Fiore and at least have a chance to fight another day." He stated.

"But aren't you at risk in Fiore. The king will not stop if he discovers you alive." Laxus said.

"It's a risk that I'm willing to take. Lisanna was never reported with Raven Tail. Warner and Carma can return to Lamia Scale." He stated.

Warner looked wary of the idea, but a small red head that he had never seen before pipped up. "And I will return to spy on the King."

"25, no!" Warner said to the young girl.

But the girl seemed to have made up her mind. "It is the only way. If I go back to my post, then I can keep Fiore's eyes on Cetus!"

"Enough! We can argue when we get out of here. But for now we must get to safety. I have no doubt that Vik will figure a way out of here. I have to trust him, even if it means waiting for him to return." He said angrily. The idea was really eating him up inside, but he was once again the guild master of his guild.

He took a deep breath as all everyone took a hold of him. To his side, Lisanna was in tears as she held Xenia. He wished that he could promise her that Bickslow would come out of this fine. He felt tears creep at the side of his eyes as they flashed yellow and they disappeared.

* * *

Cetus laughed to himself, everything was going perfectly. He wanted to see his beloved. He needed to share the news with her anyway.

He teleported back to her, seeing the look of shock on her face. He could tell that she was thinking. She wanted to get rid of that powder puff. Something that was already a distant thought. The powder puff was not that important. Only her child.

He pulled her against him. "I've returned my love. And the country is ours."

Flare looked confused. "But I thought that was the plan in the long run?"

He smirked. "This turned out to be the proper time." He leaned down kissing the side of her neck. She clingged to him. "Now come, my queen. We have much to do."

"Queen?" She wanted him for herself, he knew that.

"Of course, Flare. Who else would it be?" He chuckled.

He could see that same spark in her eyes. The spark that he fell in love with thousands of years ago. "You mean it? You're going to forget Lisanna?"

He chuckled teleporting them across the city, letting them look up at the sky. He shot a shield spell at the sky, sending it out and watching as it covered the entire country. "She is nothing compared to you. You're the woman I want." Cetus said.

That smile. How long had it been since he had seen that beautiful smile? "I love you, Bickslow."

He leaned into her ear, slightly angry to hear that name on her tongue. "Call me Cetus from now on. That old name means nothing to me."

She didn't question it. "Okay, Cetus. My love."

He smirked, that was better. "I only love you, Flare. Remember that."

She threw herself into his arms, smiling into his chest. "I want to stay like this forever."

He chuckled. "We will, my queen. We will."

* * *

Vik looked down at 32 as she shook her head. "Your name is 55."

He glared at her. "It hasn't been that in 3 years. I have moved on. I'm no longer the puppet that you are."

She continued to shake her head. "I don't understand. Our master saved us! Raven Tail has poisoned your mind!"

"No, they've freed it. How is it that hard to explain?! I know that you're not that stupid 32! Can't you see past he lies!" He yelled back at her. His eyes continuing to stay red in color. In the back of his mind, the monster that was 55 was lurking, waiting for its turn to resurface. But he couldn't let up on it. 32 was using her power as well and if he let it down, he would surely die.

" _Come now. You know you want it."_ The voice started and he shook his head. Bickslow had already been possessed. They didn't need him falling as well.

He felt a small twinge of pain in the back of his brain and sent 32 a glare. She was trying to enter his brain. "You really think you're going to get in there?" He chuckled. "My brain isn't as weak as it used to be. I'm not the same little kid."

She looked at him in fear. He could see it all over her face. "I can't save you…"

"That's because I don't need saved. You're the one that's lost." He stated.

She started shaking as she started to walk backwards. Fear coated every single one of her features. "Get away from me!"

He wondered what was wrong with her. He couldn't be that scary. Hell, he wasn't even trying to attack her. But just as he was about to ask, he watched as she fell back, her blood ripping through the air. He looked down at his hands, they were covered with blood. He heard the demented laughter of 55 in the back of his head. _"You'll never escape it. You'll always be a killer. We'll always be a killer."_

He turned around looking for the evil and twisted side of himself, but couldn't find him anywhere. Off to the side, he could hear 32's labored breathing. "You're wrong!" He made to turn back to 32, only to find 55 standing there. "Get away from her!"

55 chuckled darkly. _"Why? She's only in the way. Besides, you need me."_

He continued to glare at the evil side of himself. "I've never needed you!"

" _You really think that? You think that you will survive with Cetus here? Absolon is finished, Miresa is going to rise again."_ 55 said clearly.

"What are you talking about?" He tried to back away from 55 but he found that he couldn't move.

" _Viktor, Viktor, Viktor, you really think that I'm just a darker side of you?"_ The killer said shaking his head. _"The creatures known as the weapons of Fiore, once lived another life. You three that stayed with the King were filled with parts of the souls of heroes of the past."_

"Then why are you so evil?" He said trying to push back against the monster.

The man chuckled. _"After all that I've seen, it's a side effect of what I've been though."_ To his surprise, he watched as 32's side was healed. _"You need to learn to trust me. Get close to Cetus, it's the only way to stop him."_

The girl looked at him in shock as something pulled from her. _"It's been a long time, Per.."_

" _Shhh, that is not important Minerva or should I call you 32 now?"_ He seemed to be getting a kick of this.

The woman that looked a lot older than 32 only nodded. _"I believe that is our role now."_ Her eyes turned back to the body that she once used. _"So it is Rosa for you then."_

The girl that he knew as 32 stared at him in confusion, wanting an answer for what was happening, but he had none. "Are you saying that we are going to be stuck in Absolon?"

55 shook his head. _"No, Miresa. The demon king, Cetus has risen to power again."_

"But that doesn't explain anything!" Rosa said to his side.

"You don't need to know everything now. Just do what Cetus asks of you. Follow his orders. Get close to him. Over time, we will see if you are ready. At that time, Andromeda will join you." 32 said.

"Ready for what?!" He asked, but as he said it they disappeared. Falling back into the shadows.

His illusion fell and he was back in the city. Both he and 32 looked at each other as a strange shield same over the city, possibly the country. He wondered where he family was, but he already knew. 55 must have known that they had gotten out before the city fell. It was only him and 32, who would be locked with the demon king that was controlling his older brother. He sighed. "Come on, let's see if there are any others."

She shook her head. "I can't even find 25. There are a lot of the citizens but no one familiar."

He figured. "I guess that means that we follow 55 and 32's orders."

She still looked shocked. "I just don't understand. Why would the king put those souls in us?"

He looked up at the sky. "Who knows." As he looked up at the sky, he feared what would happen to both Kitt and Edvin. As much as he wished that he could be with them. This was his mission. He didn't know how long it would take, but he would get to the bottom of this. No matter what it took, he would destroy Cetus.

* * *

Flare smiled as they walked into the parliament house. A woman was cowering in the corner. The wife of the former prime minister. "What do you want done with her, my love?"

Cetus only laughed. "Do what you wish. She's trash."

With that she drove her hair through the woman's chest, killing her on the spot. She laughed. "Trash has no place in our future."

He smirked. "That's right. Those without magic have no place in our presence. They will be brought back to what they once were."

She came up and grabbed his arm. "What they once were?" What did he mean.

"Trash is only suitable for enslavement. We will bring this country to its knees, before going after the rest of the world." He stated.

She melted into his side. This was all too good to be true. "I can't wait, my love."

He chuckled, as he led her down the hall, past many more people. All of who were cowering away from them, but she didn't want to focus on them. She only wanted to focus on her lover. She still couldn't believe that he was hers and hers alone.

He opened a door and she came face to face with what had to be the quarters of the Prime Minister's family. "It's changed, but I will return it back to its former glory soon. But I have other plans for the moment."

The door closed behind her and she looked at him questioningly. "What?"

But she was quickly pulled into his arms and pushed down to the bed. "You. I want more of you." He leaned in kissing the slid of her neck and she moaned against him, a smile graced her face. She would give him whatever he wanted. As long as she could be by his side forever.

To Be Continued….

 _Author's Note_

 _Look, it's on time! It's been a long time sense I was able to do that. So after the next chapter, you should expect a time skip. The next four or five chapters after that will have scenes that happen during the time skip._


	25. Chapter 25

_Author's Note_

 _I am so sorry that this is really late. My computer cord broke and I had to wait for a new one to arrive and it also showed up late. On top of that I've had kennels and a midterm to study for, so I haven't been writing much of anything. But now I'm back…at least until finals._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Remy couldn't believe that he was back in the guild that he left all of those years ago. But now he and the others were surrounded by faces that were both new and familiar.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could already see Makarov running forward. Some of the guild seemed to be focused on Lisanna and the baby that she was holding. They seemed to be ready to start celebrating, but he was going to have to burst their bubbles.

He turned to Makarov. "We need a doctor." He stated, looking back at Ivan.

The old man could only nod as he looked over his son. Ivan didn't look very good and Remy dreaded telling him that not one, but both of their sons were locked up in Absolon or should he call it Miresa now? Cetus seemed to think that was what it was called. What was the demon's connection to the country? Why did he think that he had some claim to it? Did Bickslow know about this and if he did, did his son agree or disagree with the monster? They had grown so far apart during the time after their guild hall was destroyed. He had no idea what his son was thinking.

And then there was Vik. He could already see both Kitt and Edvin staying close to each other as the members of Fairy Tail looked them over. What was left of Kitt's family had to be in Absolon's countryside, and he already knew that Magnus was dead. Edvin's mother would most likely follow her husband. The boy was now an orphan. Fitting really that they would end up at this guild.

He thought about Vik. What was he doing and was he okay? Would Cetus go easy on him or would he kill him? Could his youngest son survive this?

"Tell me, what has happened?" Makarov said, pulling him from his thoughts.

He looked back down at the older man and he didn't know how to answer. His life had been turned upside down in a matter of hours. His family was ripped apart in the worse way and he had no idea how he and Ivan would walk forward after this. Not only that, but how would they deal with the monster that was the King of Fiore. They could not remain in hiding forever. Not with Cetus in control. "It's hard to explain."

"I have the time." Makarov said, trying to lead him away from the group. It looked like Laxus had taken Ivan up to be looked at.

He followed the older man up to the guild master's office. He was confused for a second as he looked around it. "Did you redecorate?" He wouldn't have been surprised if the man had. It had been over 20 years.

"No, Laxus did this when he became the new guild master." Makarov answered, sitting down behind the desk.

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "I thought you would die over retiring. At least, Ivan and I used to joke about that." He said, noticing the grim look in the old man's face.

"I retired after I thought that Raven Tail was destroyed. I decided that I wanted to focus on my family over the guild. I spent so much of my life devoted to this place that I forgot about my own child." Makarov sighed. "I'm not surprised that Ivan doesn't like me. Now that I have had time to reflect on it, I was a horrible father. I put too much pressure on him and I never realized what he was trying to say."

"Ivan doesn't hate you. He never has. He was just frustrated." He stated. Makarov seemed a little shocked at that, but he had to believe him. No one knew Ivan better than he did.

"But enough about Ivan and me. Where have you all been?" Makarov said leaning back into his chair, waiting for answers.

He sighed as he sat down across from him. This would take forever to tell. He didn't know how much the old man could really take. "We've been in Absolon. Both of my sons are still there."

"Yes, Laxus told me that the younger one, the assassin that tried to kill me was my grandson. Why are they still there?" Makarov said, clearly seeing the frown in his face.

He didn't want to say it. It felt final, but he needed to get this off his chest. He didn't know if he could move on until he did.

* * *

Ivan woke up in what looked like a medical wing, a familiar medical wing. He made to pull himself up, but found himself being pushed back down onto the bed. He looked off to the side and found that Laxus was the one that did that.

He started to wonder what had happened after he passed out. Remy had to be alive, he would be dead if that was the case. But what about his children. Was Bickslow still being possessed? What about Absolon? Why were they here?

"I can see you have a lot of questions. I can't answer everything, but I can answer some." Laxus said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Why am I here?" That seemed to be the only thing he could think off. Besides, it would answer all of his questions at once.

"Absolon is gone. It has been taken over by that demon that is controlling Bickslow. There is even a shield over it at the moment. No one can get in or out of the country." Laxus said, looking him in the eye.

He sighed. "I told that boy that he shouldn't be messing with things he didn't understand. If he allowed Remy and I to die all of those years ago, then this never would have happened."

Laxus almost chuckled. "That sounds like Bickslow. Once he gets attached to something or someone, he has a hard time letting go."

He gave his eldest son a small smile. "I just wish things were different. That life didn't decide to be such an asshole to me. It seems that anyone and anything connected to me will suffer."

Laxus looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"First it was Kaya, I left her to go after the King, then it was your grandfather. He was made to believe that I was a menace. Then it was you. I was never a part of your life and seemed to just be a disappointment to both you and my father. Next would be Remy. He had to put up with me all of those years. I still don't know how he does it. And now Bickslow is being forced to go through the pain of having me as a family member. I just attract trouble." He was practically laughing as he reached the end.

Laxus still looked confused. "I don't think any of those things are your fault. You had no control over them."

"But fate is fate. You can't escape it, even if you try. That blast to Raven Tail was supposed to be the end of the road for Remy and I. Instead, it seems like we have angered fate itself and it wants revenge." He would have continued, but Laxus seemed to be a little angry with his words.

"I never pegged you for the type of person that just gave into the idea of fate. You came from Fairytail. We don't believe in fate. We make our own fate." Laxus said.

He looked up at the ceiling. "I used to be like you. But as time passed, I saw what real fate looks like. I continued to argue with myself over the years. Telling myself that I couldn't be what I was. Wasting precious time by giving into fear. Fate found me when I was five years old, and I ignored what it was trying to tell me. That was until 3 years ago. Your brother made sure that I was forced to face it. Bickslow could read me so well, it was kind of frightening."

Laxus laughed at that last part. "I never took Bickslow to be the kind of person that could read people. He seemed so disconnected back then."

He only shook his head. "Always watch the ones that are hiding behind a mask. They're usually watching everyone and everything."

"So your saying that he was gathering intel on us?" Laxus teased.

"I wouldn't be surprised. He was programmed to do that. His parents were spies after all." He joked.

The boy seemed a little more relaxed now. They continued to talk for a while, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. He hoped that Remy was doing better wherever he was at the moment.

* * *

Lisanna could already see the front of the guild celebrating her return, but she was still at a loss. Her husband was gone. She had to accept that. She had heard nothing more from him. Cetus must have found a way to shut him up. Bickslow couldn't be dead, but he had to at least be knocked out and away in his own mind. She would have to do her best for Xenia. At least she wasn't alone for that.

Her daughter tried to pull herself from her arms. And soon she was being passed around the guild like a trophy of some sort. She made to giggle. At least her daughter wouldn't grow up in a warzone. At least, she hoped that she wouldn't. Maybe this was for the best. But being without Bickslow would be the worst torture. She had already been without him for a long time. Now she wondered if she would ever see him laugh again with that stupid smirk on his face. She held back her tears. Her husband needed her to be strong. Xenia needed her to be strong. If she allowed herself to fall into sadness, she would never recover.

* * *

Warner looked over at 25 again. The girl looked distraught over leaving 32 behind and it seemed that she didn't really want to go back to Fiore. Carma looked up at him as she held their son. They knew that they would have to be leaving for Margret Town soon.

If he was going to be in Fiore, he was going to go back to that guild. He was going to at least try and be a family with the old hag. It was the least he could do. Maybe he would finally learn more about his mother then. Hell, maybe he could stop by Blue Pegasus and learn some things about his father. Someone had to know something.

Gunner made a face. The boy was all kinds of confused. His life had been turned upside down in the 24 hours. The boy had never been outside of Absolon after all.

He sighed, wondering where everything would go from here.

* * *

Vik walked down through the city. Looking over some of the carnage. 32 was at his side, but she didn't look at him. She was far too distracted by the idea of them been stuck here.

He still couldn't get over the fact that that part of him existed. He had so many questions, but there were so little answers. Why couldn't he know that answers yet? Why was he going to be out here without either of the men he loved?

The night sky looked odd against the shielded sky. He didn't know what to think of it. He wished that he could escape and go back to both Edvin and Kitt, but that didn't look like it was going to happen any time soon.

Rosa came up next to him. "What do we do know?"

"We need to find Cetus." He stated.

"We can't just go after him now. He's too strong, 55." Rosa said, annoying him a little.

"My name is Viktor now, Rosa!" He turned back to her and could already see how much she was hurting all over her face. "I'm sorry. I'm just on age."

He could see tears in the corners of her eyes. "I'm scared."

He walked forward, pulling her into a hug. "I am too." He gave her a small smile. "I have missed you though."

She smiled at him though her tears. "I missed you so much."

"We have to work together, Rosa. It's the only way that we can bring down Cetus. We just have to get close to him." He stated.

"How do we do that?" She asked.

"55 and 32 join him in his cause."

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _I hope to have the next chapter out by Friday. Again sorry about the lack of chapters. I know that many of the readers don't have fanfiction accounts, so they don't get notifications for when chapters are a_ dded. _The next chapter will tie into this before the timeskip. There will be about 3 chapters going over different moments that happen to the characters during the skip._


	26. Chapter 26

2 years later…

Warner walked inside of Lamia Scale with Karma. They had just returned from a job. He almost smirked as he watched his great grandmother play with his son.

He hadn't been this happy in a long time. It was nice to finally have all of his family under one roof. Even if his sister was gone most of the time. She did have a job after all. 25, now known as Arma, was still working for the country of Fiore, but now a days she was reporting her findings to the alliance of guilds. The King must have felt backed against the wall. He only had one weapon left and she wasn't even loyal to him. If things weren't the way that they were in Miresa, Arma wouldn't even be by his side. But at least he still got to see her. That was better than nothing.

Lamia Scale noticed the difference in their guild master the moment he and Karma had walked through the door. They didn't look too happy about Jose being there, but they got to get used to him. He came with Karma.

Ooba seemed so happy to see him, she must have discovered who he was. The rest of the guild was in shock as she hugged him before moving on to his son.

No life couldn't get better than this. But he knew that in time, things would change. He didn't know when or how, but Cetus wouldn't be satisfied with just having Miresa. He would want everything. When that day came, he would have to fight for the country that he had grown to despise. He only hoped that his son would never have to face the horrors that he already knew.

* * *

Remy hated hiding. Makarov was kind enough to open his home to him and Ivan, it was almost like they were kids again with the three of them under one roof.

But as for privacy, they didn't have much. It felt weird to be together around his father-in-law. Makarov didn't seem to mind. He said more than once that he knew it all alone, but it didn't make it any less awkward.

It wasn't only that, but he missed both of his children. Bickslow and Vik had taken up so much of his life and now it was kind of empty. He didn't know what to do with himself. He had gotten so used to having them around that now that they were trapped in Miresa, he spent a lot of his time alone.

Everything wasn't completely bad though. Ivan and Makarov had been able to bury the hatchet. Ivan had also grown close to Laxus and his wife and was all over his grandson. He let them be for the most part. He spent his time with Xenia and Lisanna mostly. She had moved in with Laxus and Mira. Lisanna had never really recovered from any of this. She was kind of a shell of a person now.

At 3, Xenia was already getting better at controlling her magic. Her power was just like his, so when the time came, training her would be a lot easier than training her father had been.

He smiled to himself as he flashed back to Bickslow's training. His son had been so innocent at the time. His heart and mind had been full of hope for the future. Now that hope was nothing but suffering and darkness.

Another blow to him had to be that Kitt and Edvin had run off. Kitt had joined Blue Pegasus, so they had moved over to that village. He could tell that they thought that Vik was dead. They seemed to just want to move on with their lives. He could understand. If they were around each other they would only serve as a reminder of Viktor.

"Remy? Are you awake in there?" Ivan said, waving his hand in front of his face.

He almost shook his head, but he didn't want to cause Ivan trouble. His lover had been through this for over 20 years. He would not ruin his happiness. To his surprise, Ivan leaned forward and kissed him.

"Not a day goes by that I don't worry about them." Ivan said.

He almost laughed. It was strange seeing his lover as the strong one. "I'm fine. They'll be fine. They're stronger then we give them credit for." He said, leaning into Ivan's touch. He always felt so comfortable in his lover's arms.

Ivan just gave him a small nodded as he pulled him into a hug. This was their life now. They had to get used to it. At least, until the ball dropped.

* * *

Cetus paced. He paced for what felt like a millennia. As he paced, his soldiers only stood at attention. He had almost everything he could ever want. Even Bickslow's brother had submitted to him.

He was surprised at first, but even he knew that Viktor wasn't stupid. The boy was a natural at surviving and now he was finally a man. His magic had proved to be quite useful to him. That power of illusion was striking in a way. Viktor's eyes almost seemed to be red all of the time now. He had let 55 back in completely and Cetus loved that, even if he still called him Viktor. It was an old habit. The King of Fiore's puppet was now his.

"My lord." He turned to find the man in question walking towards him. He gave him a smirk.

"I see that you have returned, Viktor. Did you have any trouble with the common folk in the valley?" He asked. He needed something to take his mind off of his pacing. Listening to the misfortune of the non-magic folk would take his mind off of it.

Viktor only smirked, his eyes growing to a much bloodier shade of red. "They refused to listen to reason." The man made to laugh. "I only did what I had to."

He smirked back. "Good. What of the mother of the one known as Kitt?" This was something he wanted to know. The Viktor that was the son of Ivan and Remy would never kill the mother of the man he loved. That Viktor was too soft. His Viktor. The Viktor that had the power of 55, he was much more to his liking. He was just as much a monster as he was.

Vik chuckled darkly. "She fell, my lord."

"How did she fall?" He inquired. Practically laughing as he took in the blood lust in the other man's eyes.

"She thought that she needed to run at my sword over and over again." Viktor laughed manically. "She did it so much that the thing impaled herself on it, more than once I'm afraid."

He clapped his hand on Viktor's back and continued to laugh with him. It still made no sense how a non-magic woman could make a proficient son that could use magic. Maybe it had been in her blood from the past, but that didn't matter. Kitt had run off to Fiore. He left his lover behind, which was perfect of him.

Then there was Edvin's family. They were completely devoid of magical blood. He was glad that he dispatched them himself.

It was only by pure luck that Ivan and Remy had been given two children, both with the blood of two very strong magical lines. Maybe someday, Viktor would let go of that gay thing. He was kind of interested in seeing what the boy could produce.

His thoughts and Viktor's laughing were interrupted though as the door that he was pacing in front of opened. "Congratulations sire, it's a boy!"

* * *

Vik returned home from his meeting with Cetus. His head hurt. The horror that he had done earlier was still fresh in his memory. He had no idea how he pulled all of this off. The only thing that kept playing over and over again was Kitt's mother's screams. He knew that he could never look at his lover in the eye again. That was if he ever saw him again. Kitt and Edvin had probably moved on with each other anyway.

As he sat down, Rosa came into the living room. They were living in what used to be Lisanna and Bickslow's home. Cetus had the thing completely remodeled. He didn't want any memory of his brother to be seen anywhere.

Rosa looked down at him, her eyes filled with tears. "You did something horrible today…didn't you?"

He sighed. "I do something horrible every day."

She started to shake her head. "We're never going to get out of here, Vik."

He hated to admit that she was probably right. "We can't lose hope." He started.

Her tears began down her face. "We never had hope to begin with!" She sat down next to him. Sitting close to him, she felt cold.

He watched her again for a second, all the while, the screams of his victims began to play in his head again. It was almost like he was going insane really. "We still have each other." He stated.

That was true. The girl that was like his sister was at least here with him. Between the two of them, they had to find a way to get rid of Cetus.

But what kind of life could he have after getting rid of Cetus? The demon king had made it his duty to have him kill off as many people as possible. His lovers would never take him back. He was back to square one. Those years with his parents, Bickslow, Lisanna….it felt like they were just a dream now. It was like he was on a coma for those 3 years that he had been with them and now he had woken up only to find himself to be a greater monster than he had ever been.

"Viktor?" He looked down at Rosa. He had surpassed her in height a long time ago. He was now as tall as Ivan was, she had to be around Karma's height. Not too short, but not a towering giant either. She gave him a sad smile as she hugged into his side.

His head hurt. The screams were a never ending nightmare that was now giving him a migraine. He started to hold the side of his head, hoping that the pain would stop.

She grabbed the side of his head, he watched as she started to use her magic to sooth his mind. He could feel it, almost as if it was this small, light touch. He sighed as the pain started to recede. He was really grateful that she was here. Without her, he would have fallen off the deep end a long time ago.

His eyes met hers. "Thank you."

She only stared up at him. Her eyes only looking brighter. "Vik…" With that she pushed herself up, kissing him.

His eyes stayed open in shock as she moved her lips against his. She knew that he was gay, but she continued. He pulled away. "32..no."

Her tears fell down her face again. "Why not?"

"You know that I'm gay. Besides, I have 2…"

"I know that you have 2 boyfriends!" She said crying into her hands. "But they're not here, 55! They'll never be here!" Her voice was shaky. "It's only you and me." She said dejectedly.

He knew what she was saying was true, but he just couldn't do that. "You're like my sister." He said weakly as she climbed up onto his lap.

She only looked in him in eye. She still seemed so pure, even if she also had her own share of blood on her hands. "I'm not your sister, 55."

He couldn't argue about that. Technically, she wasn't his sister. He was starting to wonder what was wrong with him as the screaming started up again. His head began to ache again and he made a small groan of agony.

She pulled his face up, forcing him to look at her. The discomfort began to ebb as she leaned forward, this time he closed his eyes, giving into her kiss. He felt her moan as she hugged him closer to her. His hands had a mind of their own as they moved down to her hips and lower back, doing the same thing.

He forced her mouth open at some point. The pain was starting to become a distant memory as she moaned against him. His heart was pounding as he felt his hands go under her shirt. His body was moving without thought as he slid her shirt over her head, leaving her in a bra. In that moment, they separated. He only looked at her and she only looked at him.

He knew he shouldn't be doing this. He couldn't be doing this. She was a woman. He didn't find her attractive. She was like a sister. Why was he doing this?!

He pulled her off of his lap and stood. He made to walk away. He had to walk away.

"55, please." Her voice pleaded, her eyes were still filled with tears.

His heart plummeted. She was all he had. They were all each other had. He would never see his lovers again. 32 was the one he was forever stuck with in this place. She was the one that was making the nightmares fall away from him. She was his only comfort….and he was hers.

He walked back before picking her up. She looked confused as he walked her down the hall and opened the door to her room. She was about to say something as he slid her down on the bed, but he silenced her with his lips. Her arms slid up his chest and he was lost.

They would hate him for this. He would hate himself for this. But this would keep him sane. He could never truly love 32. But here alone in this horrible country, they would become one. Not for love, not for lust, not for any kind of sexual thrill, only for their sanity.

To Be Continued….

 _Author's Note_

 _It's good to finally be back on schedule. Those last couple of weeks were horrible, but I can finally start putting this out on time. I have been thinking of working an alternate timeline story to the first story after I finish this one. Tell me what you think in the comments._


	27. Chapter 27

Remy smiled at his granddaughter as she relaxed. Her training had come a long why over the years. She was already healing with her shield eyes. She was only 11 now and she was more disciplined than her father was. Sure, it took her longer to learn the different eye powers. She was a child after all.

"Grandpa, when are we going to move on to seeing souls?" She said, giving him a smile.

"Just be patient, Xenia. We'll start soon. I just want to make sure that you've mastered healing." He said.

She sighed. She was certainly as inpatient like her father. Her personality was so much like Bickslow.

Laxus's son had already become the leader of their little group. Every weekend he would see Maky, Xenia, Goyle, and Libert playing. They were always getting into trouble, even if it looked like Xenia wanted no part of it.

He had heard old man Makarov refer to them as the new thunder legion. He kind of had to agree. Maky took after Laxus, Libert was just like Freed, and Goyle had some similarities to his mother.

He was about to tell Xenia that they were done for today so she could go and play when Lisanna came into view. His daughter-in-law had kind of lost it over the years. At this point, he wasn't sure if she was really alive. It was like she was a walking corpse and he didn't know what to do.

He had talked with Ivan about it and he said that they should leave things be. Mira and Elfman would have killed them if they even tried to take custody of Xenia. The girl was the only thing that Lisanna had left. He really didn't have the heart to take her.

Lisanna didn't say anything, which had become normal. She had dark circles under her eyes from a lack of sleep. Xenia turned and saw her mother. The girl frowned. She wanted to keep training.

"We're done for the day, Xenia. Why don't you go play with your friends?" He said.

"Okay, Grandpa." The girl gave him a smile and then ran off.

Lisanna stopped in place. She glared at him, but really that was what was planning for Xenia to do anyway. The girl didn't need to be bogged down by so much anger and depression. The darkness would be coming some day and he just wanted her to enjoy the time she had as a child.

Lisanna said nothing though. He swore the last time she talked was 5 years ago. She must have finally given up hope on Bickslow.

He often wondered what his children were doing. Sure, Bickslow was being used by Cetus, but he did wish that he knew what Cetus was thinking.

The same went for Vik. They had heard nothing from the newly formed Miresa. The shielding spell was impossible to penetrate and over the years, the people of Fiore had grown to ignore it. Nothing came to attack so it wasn't seen as a danger, but he knew better.

Ivan didn't like some of the ideas that he had had as of late. He was thinking about revealing himself to Fiore. He knew the risk, that was a given, but he wanted to do something. He hated waiting for the ball to drop. If he could just get close to the action, he could maybe find at least one of their children. He doubted that Vik was dead and Cetus had to be keeping Bickslow alive. If he didn't the body would decompose and they would have seen the shield come down. Also Lisanna would be dead.

Seeing that she was getting nowhere, Lisanna stormed off. He sighed to himself. "Remy, what have you become?"

* * *

Vik walked back into his house, giving his wife and daughter a smile. Lily had been born only a year after he and Rosa ended up in bed together. They married some time later.

The only reason that they had married was so that their daughter had a stable home. They had no one else to turn to either and Rosa was the only one that he could trust. He could barely remember what his life with Kitt and Edwin had been like. Wherever they were, they were probably happy with each other.

He watched his daughter as she finished up a picture that she was drawing. Her black hair reminded him of his parents in a way, while she had her mother's green eyes. She was the only light in this dark place and he couldn't bring himself to regret that night he spent with Rosa. She was such an innocent child and her smile seemed to be the only thing that kept him going.

Rosa walked up to him and smiled, before giving him a kiss on the cheek. It wasn't until a couple of years after Lily that Rosa had told him the truth. His wife was actually a lesbian. It made sense really. He could remember Rosa and 25 being close. He just never realized how close they were.

He guessed that they were genetically engineered to be gay, unlike that first batch of human weapons. The King of Fiore probably didn't want them to breed. Looking at himself and Rosa, along with Warner and Carma, the King had failed at that. He probably had his reasons for it though. He just didn't know why.

A small knock came to the door and he went to answer it. To his shock Cetus had come here. The tyrant king only smirked at him as he invited himself in. "How are you this evening, Viktor?" The king thought of him as his most loyal soldier. He hated to admit it, but he kind of was. He worked day in and day out for the man and the fact that no one had even tried to come after them pissed him off greatly.

"I'm well, my lord." He looked around and saw someone walking behind the King.

The Prince of Miresa was following his father proudly. He had his mother's red hair and the red eyes of the demon. The boy was half demon. He really didn't know if the boy would register as his nephew. Was he Bickslow's son with Flare or was he truly Cetus's. With him having the blood of a demon, he betted on the latter. Xenia had been born completely human and that was after Cetus was inside of him.

But he watched the prince as he stared at his daughter. Lily had looked up and was blushing at the Prince. "Do you want to draw a picture with me?" She asked.

He then heard Cetus chuckle. "Not today, maybe later, child." The King turned back to him and he could already see his plan. He wanted Lily to marry his son.

He hated himself as he gave him a nod. He didn't really want to agree to such a thing, but he had no choice. His daughter would be stained by the horror that came from living in this place and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

* * *

Ivan stared at Remy as the man paced. He hated that they had to stay in hiding, but it seemed to bother Remy more. His husband lived for the moments that he got to train Xenia. He was allowed to be out in the forest, during that time, but he had to watch his back. After living on the run for years and then having complete freedom, these last 10 years had been horrible on Remy.

Even if he told himself that he didn't agree with Remy's idea of going to the King, he wanted to go. They really couldn't kill them; they had grown too strong for that. All they could do was help really, even if it was for a person that he despised.

But wasn't that what they did for Magnus all of those years ago? Or Cetus? They seemed to run into the problem of helping the wrong side and he was sick of it. He was perfectly fine with his retirement.

But as he stood there, he wondered if it was okay for him to let his husband go. Remy probably be fine and he would be with Arma. They would have better information if he went. But he also knew the other scenario. The one where Remy would be captured and killed. Then he would die as well. They just couldn't win for losing.

Remy looked over at him, stopping his endless pacing. "What are you thinking about?"

He sighed. "I just want to know if you're going to do anything stupid. I don't want you running off because your bored."

Remy just continued to stare. "What if it means I can find our boys? I want to do something. Because all I'm doing now is waiting for death. I can't stay here Ivan. It's just too much."

"What about Xenia's training?" He knew this was a low blow. His husband only seemed to connect with their granddaughter. Everyone else seemed to be at odds with him. It wasn't because they didn't try, Remy was just very wary of other people. His lover had lost all trust after Cetus's takeover.

"She's almost done. Within a year or two she will be completely trained. If I had more time with her, she would already know what she needs to know." He could hear some resentment in his voice. He knew that Lisanna's family hadn't been too keen on letting Xenia learn her magic. They feared that it would lead her to the same path as her father.

"But how do you think she will feel about you leaving?" It was no secret that Xenia didn't seem to fit in with the guild, sure she made friends with Laxus's son and his two friends, but it seemed that she wanted more. She wanted to be the best.

Remy sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "For the moment, I'm not going anywhere. This is just…for me this is hell Ivan."

He looked at his lover and could see that it was the truth. "I know it is."

* * *

A week later

Xenia turned a corner, she was trying to hide from her mother. As much as the woman wanted her to stay behind, she just couldn't do it. She wanted to learn as much as possible.

What happened to her father, was not much of a mystery. Her mother tried to keep it from her, but her grandfather was the one that spilled the beans. She could always trust him. Papaw wouldn't say much, nor did her great grandfather, but Grandpa Remy always told her the truth. He knew that there was no reason to hide it. She would have discovered it eventually.

Right now, she was trying to sneak out for some training. She hated just sitting around. She knew that if she got to her grandfather, they could be going over soul seeing exercises. Hell, she would rather listen to him talk over anyone in her guild. The truth was that she put up with Maky and his friends. For the most part, they seemed such up and that Libert boy would always follow her around which did nothing but annoy her. She just wanted freedom for a change.

She couldn't wait for her grandfather to teach her how to teleport because once that happened, she was finding another guild, even though she didn't wish to leave him behind. He looked so sad most of the time. Just like her, he wanted freedom.

She jumped free of the house and headed down the street. They lived close to her great grandfather and she knew she would find him there. She flashed through the streets hoping that she wasn't seen by her Aunts or Uncles. They would just take her home.

But she was lucky as right in front of the door. She didn't knock and went straight to where she knew he would be. "Grandpa!"

He gave her a smile as she looked at his aged face. From the photos she had seen, he used to have black hair, now it was completely grey. His face bared some wrinkles and his clothes were a little tattered. "I didn't think that you would get away." He joked.

She only laughed. "They're no match for me. You know that."

He held out his hand. "Ready?"

She nodded and walked over, taking his hand in a second. Seconds later, they were in a place she had never seen before. "Where are we?"

"I thought we would train somewhere where your mother wouldn't interrupt." He said. She knew he was annoyed with that.

"Good. I want to get soul seeking out of the way!" She said.

He laughed, but then stopped. He was looking off into the distance. She wondered what he was looking at.

She was confused as he walked forward. There were a couple of soldiers out there. Soldiers of the king. Why were they out here?

"Remy?" She looked and saw a young woman with red hair.

"It has been a while Arma." Her grandfather said.

"I know that you probably want left alone, but I need your help. I can't get Makarov and Laxus to budge and we are on borrowed time." She sounded anxious.

"How long do we have?" He asked as she listened.

"5 years." Five years, five years till what.

He turned back to her. "I'll take you home, tell everyone that…"

She shook her head. "You can't. I…I don't want to go back there. There's nothing there."

He looked at her weakly, thinking everything over before chuckling. "You know your mother and Ivan are going to kill me."

To Be Continued….

 _Author's Note_

 _Only one more timeskip after this. Then the fun begins._


	28. Chapter 28

Remy smirked as they arrived at the council. It had been so long since he had been here. The last time being when he stole his son from the King.

Arma gave him a smile. "What are you thinking?"

He chuckled. "I'm just imagining the look on that scoundrels face when he sees me. He thinks I'm dead."

"You never know. He may be happy to see you alive." She looked like she didn't believe what she was saying, but laughed anyway.

"We won't know if we don't go in, right Grandpa?" Xenia said next to him.

Part of him regretted bringing her here, but this was the only way. Lisanna would never let her train and he wasn't going to allow his magic to become lost to the world. Xenia had to know what she could do. If she didn't she could protect herself for what laid ahead. "Right." He gave his granddaughter a small smile before they walked in. Time had not changed the council. The building looked the same as ever, only the faces that were walking around were different. Some new and some old, well older. They didn't seem to notice him though. They must have thought that he was a cohort of 25 and that was enough.

"Follow me." 25 said, even though he already knew where he was going. It wasn't like he hadn't been in this place before. But he followed her regardless.

Everyone once and a while he got a funny look from someone. They didn't say anything to him though. They looked too confused. Like they felt like they were seeing ghost but at the same time they were questioning if he was even the same person. He did look different now a days.

He looked down at Xenia to find her looking around excitedly. She must have thought that it was cool to be running around a government base. He could almost see himself at that age. The only thing that was missing was Ivan at his hip. His husband wouldn't like this. He wouldn't like it one bit.

"Grandpa, who is that?" The girl pointed and he froze in place. He couldn't believe his eyes. That….that couldn't be right….

"It's been a long time Remy." A man with greying brown hair walked forward.

"Bra…Brass?" This couldn't be right. He remembered what he had seen all of those years ago. This man had been blown in half. "You're dead…"

"Now who told you that?" The man sneered.

He wanted to cry, but held back his tears. This had to be a trick. He turned to look behind him, but no one was trying to attack him. Everyone just carried about their business like normal.

He looked back and found that Arlinton was still standing there, lighting a cigarette just like he had in the past. "Come on now. The others are waiting."

Remy looked down at Xenia, unsure of what path to take. She gave him a smile and he felt himself move forward. He followed Arlington through the old and familiar halls. Again, everything looked the same as it was before. It was almost as if he had traveled back in time, but he knew that impossible. Arlington was far too old for that.

He was lead into a room and Xenia sat next to him. Around him he watched as three more people came from the shadows. He couldn't stop himself as he fell out of his chair and began to sob. Why were they all here? They were dead. What was going on?

"Oh, Remy, what is wrong?" Carolta said running up to him.

"I…I…" He couldn't get out anything he was trying to say. He was just too happy.

"The poor thing is speechless." Sasha giggled.

"How?" That was only word that he could comprehend at the moment.

Winoona chuckled. "Just a little thing called magic."

"But…" He just couldn't believe what was in front of him.

"It is hard to explain, but you will understand that I had to do what I had to do." He turned again, finding the King of Fiore had stepped in.

He glared at the man. "What have you done this time?" He said venomously.

The king only smirked. "I could say the same thing about you. You have been giving me a headache for quite some time."

"You still didn't answer my question." He stated angrily. He looked around at them angrily. "Do you not know what he had done?! What he was planning to do?!"

"Sit your ass down, idiot." Arlinton said, pushing him back into his chair.

The King smirked. "What did you do to them?!" He tried to push himself up, but found that he couldn't move.

"I told them everything. Unlike you and your boytoy they understood what I was trying to do." The King sneered at him.

"Boytoy?" Arlinton said, looking to the three women. All of them looked back at him.

"Grandpa?" All of the faces when to the young girl. "Are they talking about Papaw Ivan?"

"So Ivan is still running around?" Sasha laughed as Carolta giggled.

He wasn't paying attention to them. He only worried about where his husband was right now. "If you touch him I swear I will kill you."

The King chuckled. "I always knew that there was funny going on between you two."

With that all of his old teammate froze. They must have taken Xenia's comment as a joke or something. "You mean that you and Ivan finally hooked up?" Winoona finally said.

He glared at them. "What do you think?!" He watched as the four of them began to whisper amongst themselves. Then he watched as they started to exchange money. "What the hell?"

"We're making bets." Sasha said.

He glared at her. "I see that. Why?" He knew that they had no idea that the two of them had ended up together.

"Oh, it's all in good fun. It's not like you too would ever give into your feelings. We figured that out a long time ago." Arlinton said, not looking at him.

Now he was pissed. "For your information, Ivan is my husband."

They all froze as they looked him over. "You mean…?"

"It's just as he said." The King said rolling his eyes. He looked at the King and the man sighed. "I saw the paperwork from Absolon." The King then proceeded to pull out a piece of paper. "On the day of October 17, of the year 790, one Remington Resus was joined together with one Ivan Dreyar in our capital. The two were witnessed by their 2 children and other family." The King put it away. "As you can see, I know everything."

He felt himself go pale. "So you knew that I was alive all of this time?"

"I wasn't sure of it, but I suspected. You were the only one that I didn't get conformation on and Ivan disappeared after soon after your death. Then there was the disappearance of the weapons from the facility." He noticed that the King's voice had cracked on the word weapon.

Winoona then laughed. "What would you two need with weapons anyway?"

He froze and looked back at the King only to find him sweating a little. "You never told them."

"Told us what?" All four of them asked.

"Don't you want to know how I brought them back?" The King said changing the subject.

As much as he wanted to keep the man on that train of thought, he was curious. "Did you use the same tech that you made Bickslow and Viktor with?" The man seemed to cock his head at the names. "One of them you would know as 55."

"Oh, I thought he was dead." The King said. "Is he still alive?"

"Both him and 32 are still in what we know as Miresa. They were left behind when Cetus came to power." He stated.

"You know quite a bit about this." The king said, clearly interested.

"Well I was there. Bickslow is in fact Cetus." He stated, next to him Xenia looked down at the floor.

"Daddy's not coming back is he?" She said. He almost forgot that she was in the room.

He frowned. "He'll come back." He said looking down at Xenia. "We can't lose our hope."

"But it's been so long. Even momma has lost hope." The girl was on the verge of tears.

He turned her head to look up at him. "Xenia, I promise that I will bring him back."

"Really, Grandpa?" She looked up at him wide eyed. He could never say no to her.

"Yes, really." She let out a giggle as she jumped up onto his lap.

A set of knocks came to the door and it crept open. "My lord, there is someone here to see you."

He looked at the King and then he heard a familiar yell from down the hall. "WHERE DID YOU TAKE THEM, YOU BASTARD!"

The door crashed open and he was face to face with his lover. Ivan looked down at him and practically tackled him. "Ivan…I can't breathe…"

Ivan pulled away slightly to look at him, he didn't look too happy. "You ran off without telling me anything, you bastard!"

"Ivan, let me explain…"

"No, you let me explain mister! I waited up for you! I made dinner and waited for you to come back. My dad even left the house to stay with Mira and Laxus so we could have things to ourselves. You ruined everything!" His lover made to pout.

"You're such a woman." He stated, crossing his arms and forcing himself up. Ivan wasn't looking at him, so he was forced to move his chin over and make him look at him. "I'm sorry I worried you."

Ivan blushed a little. "I know you've been wanting to get out of the house. I should have listen more."

He felt himself smile at his lover. "I should have been more understanding. You are enjoying your time with your father and the kids."

"Will Grandpa and Papaw kiss now?" Xenia giggled.

He felt himself grab onto Ivan and in seconds, they were kissing. "Well I'll be…."

Ivan pulled away from him. "Shut up Arlinton, you prick." His lover made to kiss him again and froze. Turning to look about the room. "What the hell?!"

"Now you know." The King said. "I know that the two of you hate me, but the only why for us to defeat Miresa lies with you. I don't care about our past. I just want to protect the future. If we don't do something. Everyone will die."

He looked back at Ivan, using the link between them. " _What do you think?"_

Ivan only smiled at him. "Every time I think I'm done; you pull me back in."

He turned his attention back to the King. "Okay. Spill everything you know."

The King nodded. "It's time you knew the truth. Not just about them." The King pointed to his former spies. "But the children as well."

To Be Continued….

Author's Note

Well that is surprising. It looks like the old crew is back or our they? What is the King's tale and can he be trusted?


	29. Chapter 29

The King sighed. "I never wanted things to be this way you know."

"Just explain everything to us and then I will see if I can trust you." Ivan said, clearly annoyed. Remy couldn't help but smirk at his lover.

"Spill everything you bastard." Remy slipped down into his seat.

The King rolled his eyes. "If the two of you are going to be cocky bastards, I.."

The King stopped his tirade as he looked at the small girl in the room. "Can you please tell us the truth?"

He couldn't help but smirk at his granddaughter. She was really growing into herself. "Now, Xenia, let the tyrant King talk." He couldn't help himself he wanted at least one more jab at the man that had tried to ruin his life.

The King looked pissed, but held his tongue. He probably didn't want to upset the 4 people that he had brought back from the dead. He still didn't have answers for that. Maybe he did need to calm down and listen.

The King turned his back and walked away from him. "All of my life, I was told of a monster that once lived in the country of Absolon. It was a beautiful place back in the day, there are even paintings in my castle of the great country of Miresa." He waited for more as the King took a breath. "In my youth, my father told me of how Fiore came to be. It was formed by the sister of the last King of Miresa and her husband. They became the King and Queen of our land, but not at a cost. Miresa was once sealed away like it is now. Back when King Thanos was killed by his son Prince Cepheus."

"Why would he kill his own father?" Ivan asked.

"Probably money or power." Sasha said.

The King turned around to face them. "No, he killed for love. Prince Cepheus was in love with a noble woman by the name of Cassiopeia. She ended up mothering his child, before she was murdered."

"Well considering how he got to be King, it was bound to happen." Carolta said.

"Cepheus was gripped with grief. Apparently he was bound to his wife with some kind of magic. And because of it, he knew that he was going to die."

Remy froze. "What kind of magic did Cepheus use?" It couldn't be. It just couldn't.

"It doesn't say. It just says something about a meteor shower." The King started. "Are you going to let me finish what I have to say?"

He shook his head as Ivan walked over to him. "Do you think it's the same?"

He knew that this wasn't the place to bring this up. They weren't really in the friendliest company, but he couldn't hold back. If this was the same power, then his family would have been connected to Miresa's royal line. The question was, how? "It's possible."

The King looked at him in irritation. "Will you enlighten us or will you let me continue with the story?"

"Please go on." He didn't want to say anything for sure until he had all of the answers.

The King let out a grunt, but continued. "After the death of his beloved, he knew he would die, so he made a deal with the devil. He sold his soul so he could get his revenge, he was also promised that his beloved would reincarnate someday and they could be together again. He took that name Cetus from that day forth and began to kill of any citizen of his country that didn't have magic."

"Why go after non magic users?" Arlinton asked.

"He hated them, even before his wife's death, he treated them horribly. He was also told that his wife was killed by someone without magic." The King explained.

"So he tortured his people, just like he's doing now." Remy said.

"My question is, what does this have to do with us and the weapons? Why did you bring them back?" Ivan asked.

The King looked up at the ceiling. "It was said that Cetus would find a new body 10,000 years after his destruction he would return. I did what I had to do. I knew that I had to make those weapons. I needed the bloodlines of the strongest mages in Fiore to stop his return." He glared at Ivan and him. "But you two had to get in the way."

"Us, you were the one that caused this. You made Bickslow." Ivan stated.

"I don't know who that is." The King said angrily.

He growled. "He's one of your weapons. He's the one who Cetus took over to regain power."

The King backed up. "That can't be. It just can't be. I doomed us all."

He wanted to laugh at the tyrant, but wondered what else he knew. "I do have one question. How was Cetus defeated?"

The King had fallen to his knees. "Someone close to him destroyed him." The King looked up. "His own son sealed him away."

Now he wasn't expecting that. "Did the son have the same magic?"

"That is unknown, but the son carried the pain of the horrors he had done for his father." The King answered. "He is known as the hero, Perseus."

Now that was a name he knew, only because his mother had told him about Perseus. He was the father of the first Bickslow of his line. The one that he named his son after. He was related to Cetus. "So then it is true." He looked over at Ivan. "My line comes from that monster."

The King looked confused as did the other mages. "What are you talking about?"

"The power of your eyes. It all starts with Cetus then." Ivan said.

He nodded. "Perseus was the father of the first one with the figure eyes in my family. Which means that he couldn't have used that kind of magic. He had to use his mothers."

"But what kind of magic was that?" Ivan asked, everyone behind them seemed floored.

"She used illusion magic." The King answered, then froze. "I…Perseus had his soul preserved by his son. We used part of it when we were making….55."

He was at a loss. "So your saying that my youngest son is going to have to kill my oldest son."

The King shook his head. "No, but he may have the key to locking away Cetus forever."

Ivan seemed to be pondering something. "If he was locked behind an illusion, then it would make sense that he looked like a monster when we found him in the cave." Ivan sighed. "If only Bickslow didn't go to him."

The King looked angry. "Why did you two even let him get close to that thing?"

"He did it to save us from the etherion blast you were firing at us." Ivan said with a straight face. "So you see, everything that you tried to do to stop Cetus, gave him the power he needed."

The King again was at a loss. He opened his mouth to say something, but then quickly closed it.

"Excuse me, but how did you make Bickslow if he is Remy's son?" Winoona asked. She looked mad the she was being ignored.

The King didn't look like he wanted an answer. "Do you want Ivan to tell them or me?" The King just gave him a nod and he smirked before he looked back up at the resurrected spies. "Bickslow was made to be a human weapon. The weapon project is made of children that were made from our DNA. That's why this idiot had us killed."

The four of them looked at the King in shock. "You said that you couldn't just let us retire. That we knew too much to go back into the population!" Arlinton looked really pissed off.

"How could you do that?!" Sasha exclaimed.

"I did what I thought I had to do. I knew what would happen in the future and I was preparing myself for the war that was coming." The King didn't look back up.

"So we have kids too? Where are they?" Carolta asked.

"I….I don't know." The King answered. "Except for 25, I have no idea."

"You didn't even name them! You numbered them!" Winoona screamed.

Remy heard Ivan chuckle next to him. "This take me back."

"I was going to say that." He laughed.

All of the eyes turned on them. "So you two think this is funny! At least you know where your child is!" Winoona said as she walked over and got in his face.

"Well to be honest, I know where both of Ivan and I's children are. Bickslow has been possessed and Viktor is also in Miresa." He said with a straight face.

"Wait…you said that they are both you and Ivan's?" Carolta asked.

"Well, yes. He picked the parents based on teams." He watched as Carolta and Sasha looked at each other in shock and Arlinton and Winoona looked speechless.

"It doesn't matter." The Kind said. "You said that 32 and 55 are in Miresa. That only leaves three of them in Fiore. And 55 is the one that has Perceus's soul. We don't even know where all of them are at."

Ivan chuckled again. "You really think that Remy and I lost contact with them? Warner and Carma are easy to find and Arma is already here."

Sasha looked confused. "You….you gave them names?"

He crossed his arms. "Well we couldn't continue calling them numbers. That's just weird."

"So who is who's?" Winoona asked.

"Warner and Arma are you and Arlinton's. While Carma and Rosa are Sasha and Carolta's." Ivan stated.

He chuckled again. "And even a new generation after that has been born." He looked down at Xenia. "She's Bickslow's daughter. Warner and Carma also have a child."

The King looked shocked. "I didn't know that they could have children."

"Why would you say that?" Ivan said.

The King looked away. "I didn't have the first generation the same as the second. The second generation was supposed to be only attracted to the same sex."

"So that would explain why Vik is gay." He said looking at Ivan. "I just thought it was because we are."

"I'm not gay." Ivan stated.

He rolled his eyes. "You're married to me."

"That's different. It's you. I couldn't do that with another guy." Ivan stated.

He chuckled to himself and was about to say something, but Arlinton seemed to be at his widths end. "Enough with the flirting."

"Yes, we I didn't want all of you here to talk about Ivan and Remy's sex life. I wanted you here to help me take care of Cetus." The King said.

"Before that, how did you bring them back?" He asked.

"Oh, that. I kept their souls. It was the same thing we did with Perseus's soul. We had their DNA on file so I just had new bodies made." The King looked annoyed.

He couldn't believe that it had been that easy, but knowing what he knew about his children, he just excepted it. "So what else do you have for us?"

The King cleared his throat as he walked over to a panel that started to produce images. He walked forward in shock. "Where did you get this?" Ivan said.

"We have our sources. But at the moment, this is what is going on in Miresa." The King stated.

He looked over the image, seeing Cetus sitting with Flare. A young boy looked to be playing with a young girl. Vik and Rosa were also in the image. Vik looked wary, but didn't look like he could do anything about it.

He turned to look at the King. "What do we do?"

The King chuckled. "Train my army."

He looked at Ivan for a second. "You want us to do your dirty work."

Arlinton, Sasha, Carolta, and Winoona looked confused. "It thought that you wanted all of us to look up information. Why are Ivan and Remy going to be doing training?" Sasha asked.

The King then laughed. "They used to operate a military guild of their own." The King smirked. "I can even say that the two of you can make an unstoppable force. I couldn't do anything against you. You were always a step ahead of me."

Ivan looked wary. "How do we know that we can trust you? You haven't been the most trustworthy person."

"You'll just have to make that bet." The King stated.

He rolled his eyes. "It's not like we have a choice, do we?"

The King laughed. "No you don't."

He sighed. "Just let me teach my granddaughter and promise that she's not going to be used in your game."

"But Grandpa, I can help!" Xenia said.

"No, you're too young. You need to learn how to protect yourself and that's it." Ivan stated.

"I can teach you what to do, but that's it. You don't need to be fight in a war. You're still a child." He said.

She looked a little mad, but there was nothing he could do. He wouldn't have her walk that path. She wasn't going to get involved in this war. He refused to lose her the same way he had lost his sons. He just couldn't take it if he did.

* * *

Kitt sighed as he looked at Edvin. They had been in Blue Pegasus for the last 10 years. It had been hard to move on, they had both lost family. He knew that his parents had to be dead. Edvin's parent had died the day of the attack. Neither of them could go back to home.

That wasn't the only thing that haunted them. All of these years, they had been without Vik. He missed their other lover. He didn't even know if he was alive.

He just wished that they had an answer. Maybe someday, they would.

* * *

Viktor fell against Rosa as they finished having sex. She was smiling at him as he kissed her. "Do you feel better?" She asked.

He chuckled. "Maybe a little, you?"

She laughed. "Maybe." He rolled onto his side and looked at the ceiling. "Have you heard anything from 55 lately?" He was surprised that she sounded so serious all of a sudden.

"No, he hasn't said anything yet. I must not be crazy enough." He said.

"It has to come soon. I just know it." She said cuddling into his arms.

"I hope your right, Rosa. I hope your right."

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _Finally, we are done with the time skips. The next chapter will take place 6 years after this and shit is about to hit the fan again._

 _Sorry about the lack of updates. I hit some snags with this series and for a while, I had really bad writers block. I was also dealing with some depression and working on some of my sadder/darker series. This series is dark, but not to the level of my Dragonball series._

 _I hope to be getting back to regular updates. Its drives me crazy when I can't get things done on time, so bear with me._


	30. Chapter 30

Years had passed by again. Now she was 16. She couldn't remember the last time she had been back home. Her mother had been a wreak and she didn't want to become one herself.

She had trained under her grandparents, so she understood her magic well. But she was slightly annoyed at the moment. What was the point of training her if they weren't going to let her fight? It just didn't make any sense.

She looked about the castle she had lived in for the last 6 years. For the most part it was boring, she couldn't go out and fight or get jobs like normal mages. It was driving her insane. She couldn't win for losing. If she had stayed back at Fairy Tail, she would have faded into nothingness like her mother. Now she ran the risk of being useless. She knew how to use her magic, but she couldn't get any stronger.

She sighed. There had to be something to do out there. Something that wasn't this mundane.

Behind her, she could hear some frantic talking. Someone new was here. She dove around a corner just in time. They didn't notice her. She looked up and saw what looked like a man with brown hair that had a small amount of gray in it. Next to him was a woman with darker skin and pink dreadlocks. But they weren't the ones she was really focused on.

"Gunner, don't lag behind." The woman said to the boy behind them. He had dark skin like her, but the man's brown hair.

He looked annoyed. Just like she was. The group continued down the hall but the teenager stayed. He must have had enough with all of this craziness.

"You can come out, you know." He said looking towards her hiding place.

She popped out warily. "How did you know I was there?"

"The eyes of a marksmen never miss." He stated.

"You use gun magic?" She had only seen Winoona fire a gun before. The older woman was always snapping at her.

He laughed. "Well, it is in the name."

"Huh?" She said in confusion as he had a goofy grin on his face.

"Name's Gunner Brass. My parents really didn't plan that out too well did they?" He said, keeping that same goofy grin on his face.

She giggled. "I don't know. I think they got it down perfectly."

He laughed. "Everyone says that."

"Xenia." He gave her a funny look. "That's my name. Xenia Resus."

It looked like a light bulb had gone off in Gunner's head. "You're the granddaughter of Remy and Ivan, aren't you?"

She felt her smile fade. "Yeah." Her voice was quiet. She hated being only known for that.

He must have noticed the change in her demeanor. "Are you going to the big meeting?"

She cocked her head to the side. "What meeting?"

Now he knew he was in hot water. "Well, the one that all of the military was called for. I think they are planning a strike against Miresa."

She wanted to laugh at that. No one could get into Miresa, let alone try to attack it. "They're going to be disappointed then."

Now it was his turn to be confused. "What do you mean?"

"The shield of Miresa has been up for almost 20 years now. Nothing can break it." She felt a little proud that her father's magic was that strong, even if her father was being controlled by another person.

Gunner only laughed. "Even the strongest walls fall."

She shook her head. "Cetus's shield has no flaws, my grandfather said so."

"Your grandfather could be wrong." Gunner stated.

She didn't like his tone. "Aren't you the know it all."

Now he looked offended. "Takes one to know one."

She turned her back on him. She didn't have to take this. There were better things she could be doing than argue with this boy. He must have not understood how strong her family's magic was. How strong that demon was.

She headed back towards her room. There had to be something more to do than this. Was this here fate? To be the Resus that did nothing? It didn't sit well with her.

Once she was in her room, she looked around. Nothing was in here that she wanted to. All she could see was the endless hours of boredom she would be subjected to. She sighed as she walked over to the window. There had to be someone that understood her pain.

Just outside, next to a tree in the courtyard, there was a different boy. She looked down at him but was confused as he looked up at her. Why did he not look away? His red hair was certainly bright. She could even see how bright it was in the shade.

It was weird though. He just looked up at her. Almost as if he wanted her to come down and talk to him. She was curious, but her grandfather would kill her for talking to a stranger.

She looked away from him for a second. She could hear someone walking by her room. When she looked back, he had disappeared. Who was he and why did he look so interested in her? Maybe she just dreamed him up? After all, who would be interested in a little nothing like her?

* * *

Cetus paced as he walked back and forth. He kept telling himself that everything was fine. He was the strongest mage in existence, so why was this happening? Why did fate hate him? Did that hermit think that this was funny? Did she dare to take his love away from him again? All the while, his son was gone. He hadn't seen his little prince in weeks. He was set to get married any day now and here he was trying his patience. He needed to be here. His mother needed his power.

He turned around as a couple entered his chamber. "What news do you have Viktor?"

"It seems that Fiore is planning an attack." Viktor looked a little amused. "It's not like they can really do anything, sire."

"Those simpletons don't know when to quit, do they?" His subordinate shook his head and he let out a chuckle. "That's what happens when you give those without magic hope. They scurry like flies in the wind heading to their next meal of dung."

Viktor laughed. "You know that they will be crushed before they can even try anything."

He smirked. "Yes, the day is drawing closer. It is almost ready." He turned back to the room where his beloved lay sick. "The final curtain is about to fall and I will finally eradicate that abomination of a country."

* * *

Hours later, Vik sat down. Here went another day of this. He was wary of what the next day would bring. Every knew kill still felt like a fracture on his soul. Another burden that he was forced to carry. He didn't know if he could continue playing the role of Viktor. Being like 55 was horrible.

"Dad? What's wrong?" He turned to look at his daughter. She was just barely a teenager and she was going to be forced to marry the prince whenever he returned from whatever he was doing.

"Nothing, Lily. Just tired. Why don't you tell me what you did today?" He could see some sadness in her eyes.

"Dad…why do I have to get married?" She asked. He could see that she didn't want to.

He sighed. "It's not up to us. It's what the Kind demands." He stated. He hated this. He hated the fact that she had to go through this. He hated that there was nothing he could do about it. He was her father. He was supposed to protect her and here she was, about to be feed to the wolves.

"But he isn't my type. If anything he's a creep." Lily groaned.

He wanted to laugh. He could see his papa in her. She was entering that rebellious stage. He wished that he could give her her freedom, but he didn't have that power. Only fate could do that. "Don't think about it. If he doesn't come back, you won't have to worry."

"But dad, how is he going to get back in?" She said, shocking him.

"Back in?" He wondered aloud.

"Yeah. There's a small hole in the shield. It's just right on the border with Fiore. He left across it weeks ago." She said, clearly annoyed.

He was frozen. There was a way out. They could leave. And the prince was running around Fiore. "Where did you say this hole was?" He asked grabbing her shoulders. This was important. They could escape this nightmare.

"Just along the border, right next to that weird hole in the ground." She said with a smile on her face.

He looked around the room, Rosa was nowhere to be found. "We'll wait till dark. Just promise me that if I am taken out, that you will keep running. Don't stop. Don't hesitate."

Her smile faded. "You…you're going to make it, aren't you, Dad?"

He didn't want to upset her anymore. He hated seeing her cry. "Just make the promise, Lily."

She shook her head. "I can't. You and mom need to get out too." He could already see her eyes starting to tear up.

"Lilith Marie Resus, you will keep going! Promise me that!" He felt near tears as well. The idea of leaving his little girl alone in the world was scary, but it was less scary than her being here and getting married to a half demon.

She hugged him and continued to cry into his jacket. He hoped that they could all get out, but he didn't want to give her false hope. They couldn't keep going on like that. They couldn't keep behind this wall forever either. His little girl was growing up. It was time she faced reality. He would do anything to make sure that she didn't have to marry the prince.

"Now we have a lot to prepare. Don't say anything else about this. Wait for the clock to strike midnight." He said.

She nodded. "Don't worry, Dad. It's our little secret."

He wanted to laugh at the funny look on her face. She looked a lot like her mother. Except for her black hair, that was all his.

She walked off. It looked like she wanted to pack up some important things. before tonight. He didn't blame her. They were going to be leaving the only home that she had ever known or die trying.

* * *

He tried to shake his head, but it felt like something heavy was around it. He made to move around, but it felt like he was stuck. He was cold. He needed to get out of here.

His mind was a really clouded. How long was he asleep? It felt like someone had bashed him in the head.

He shook his body. There had to be a way out of here. He just wanted to get warm. This cold was horrible.

His arm shot out of the cold goo and he felt the warm air on the outside. He moved quickly wanting desperately to get out of the cold ooze. He kept at it, pulling himself harder against the strange stuff he was in.

He wanted to yell out for help, but the ooze would get in his mouth and he already knew that it tasted horrible.

He gave it one more lurch forward and he tumbled out onto the ground. He breathed heavily. It was like he hadn't taken a breath in years. He didn't know where he was or who he was.

He opened his eyes and was met with a strange room of mirrors. It was kind of horrifying as he looked back at the wall of ooze. How long was he in there? It was starting to melt away and he had to back away from it.

"I didn't think you would get out." He looked up and saw a strange looking man. "Get back in there, Bickslow."

"What did I do?" He asked. He felt terrified.

The man looked confused. "Don't you remember?"

He shook his head. "No. Did I do something horrible?"

The man then smirked. "No. You helped me achieve everything I always wanted."

"Then why was I in the ooze?" He said looking back at the doorway.

"Because, people wish to destroy us, Bickslow. You and I are stronger than anyone." The man's hand reached down to him. He had a confident smile on his face.

He looked at the red flashing eyes and wondered if he could trust this man, but it looked like he just wanted what was for the best. "What has happened while I was asleep?"

The man frowned. "Some pigs ran off with your wife and child. I don't know what has become of them, I'm afraid, but the country we love is safe. Completely safe."

He felt angry. "Who ran off with my family?"

"Your father. He took everything from you, Bickslow. Help me kill him."

To Be Continued….

 _Author's Note_

 _Looks like Bickslow's back, but he doesn't remember anything. Will he remember everything in time? What about Vik's escape from hell? Guess you'll have to read to find out._


	31. Chapter 31

Night had fallen and Rosa had not return. He knew that something was up. She would never leave the two of them unless there was a problem. He wanted to wait longer but there was no time to spare. They had a small window to get out and he would curse himself if he couldn't at least get his daughter out of this hell hole.

He moved quickly to his daughter's room. She was awake. She must have been too excited about seeing someplace different. All she knew was the iron thumb of Cetus. As much as he didn't like Fiore, she would at least be able to make her own decisions.

She gave him a smile. She only had a small bag over her shoulder. It looked like she had packed some things. "What's that?" He asked. He didn't want her bringing too much along. It could slow them down.

"It's just some food and some photos of you and mommy. You know…just in case." She said sadly.

He gave her a sad smile. She had taken his words seriously, which made him proud, but at the same time he knew that no child should have to think about living without their parents. She was very grown up for her age though. She had to be. It was a side effect of the life they lead. "We need to get going."

He could already see the panic in his daughter's eyes. "What about mom? She's not back yet."

He didn't want to give her the news. It was already hard enough thinking about a life without his wife. She had been the only one by his side over the last 16 years. "We have no time. I fear that she won't return. If we don't leave soon, we could be next."

She looked like she was about to cry, but she kept her chin up and held back her tears. She knew the gravity of the situation. Cetus was not a gracious King, he asked for death at every turn. It was the way he raised that abomination. The prince was no different. Both of them were monsters. "I'm scared, daddy. What if they get you too? Where will I go?"

Now that was something he didn't know. Fairy Tail might be safe, but how would they react to seeing his child? He didn't even know if his parents were alive. If anything Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus should hate him. He had once attacked them both. He had killed one of Blue Pegasus's own. His child would not be welcome. But that didn't mean that he couldn't leave her without a plan. "Find a guild. You should be able to get assistance from one." He wasn't really sure of that, but it was something.

She gave him a nod and the left her room. Soon they were on the empty streets. The street lamps were dim. No one had been by to relight the candles in them. He had to say that Cetus really liked old things. He removed the electricity only days after he took over. He didn't want anyone to have contact with the outside world. He succeeded in that. There were no communications. They had been cut off and thrown back in time.

As they made it through the city, he looked around him. Danger laid behind every corner. Every shadow could be the enemy. Sure the only danger to him was Cetus himself and he would be preoccupied with Flare's illness. He had never been so happy that someone was under the weather. It gave them at least one advantage.

The city gave way to countryside, but he was far from relaxing. Not until Lily was over the border would he be calm again. He jumped more than once, but it only proved to be an animal. Mostly rats and stray pets crossed their path. He felt sorry for the pets. They were most likely abandoned as a result of his actions. Not once did he ever stand up to Cetus. No matter how much time had passed, he still saw his brother, even if he doubted that Bickslow was still in there. His brother was just a walking corpse. He was surprised that it wasn't rotting to pieces. Maybe Cetus had that kind of power over it. He still didn't understand the demon's magic. It was a lot like Bickslow was, but it was different. Its power was truly inhuman. If he thought that his brother's walking corpse was freaky, that was nothing. Cetus had shown him that. Armies of reanimated corpses were in their future. He had no idea how anyone could stand against that. And that was only the beginning. He didn't even want to think about what he had done to Rosa. She had to be dead. She was just another empty husk for him. Given the time he probably would have done it to him and Lily. Just the thought made his blood boil.

"Daddy?" Lily asked from behind him.

He looked back at her and signaled for her to be quiet. This was no time for questions. "Not now."

"But you don't know where we're going." She stated.

He had forgotten that she knew the way. She was the one that discovered the hole after all. He moved back and let her pass. She gave him a smile and the continued in the darkness.

* * *

Lisanna stared blankly at a window. Her mind was in shambles. Not only had she lost her husband, but Remy and Ivan had run of with her daughter. Xenia needed to be protected. This world was dangerous. That magic was dangerous, nothing good could come from it. It had cost her everything. If Remy and Ivan had never come for Bickslow, he would have never been infected by Cetus. They could have just lived out their lives as Fairy Tail mages. Xenia would have had a normal childhood, instead of being tossed around like a rag doll.

" _Who is Xenia?"_ She froze ad she heard the voice. It sounded familiar, but that couldn't be right. Bickslow was dead. He had to be dead. There was no way that he wouldn't try and talk to her sooner.

"Who is this?" She thought.

It stayed silent. She has to be going crazy like everyone said she was. She was about to sigh, when it spoke again. _"Bickslow, at least I think it is."_

What did it mean by that? How did it not know who it was? That didn't make any lick of sense. "Look if this is your idea of a joke…"

" _But that's what Cetus said."_ She froze. How would some stranger know about Cetus?

"What else did Cetus say?" She pondered. If this really was her husband, then why didn't he know who he was? What did that monster do to him?

" _He said I was betrayed by my father."_ The voice said.

She wanted to laugh. Even if she was mad at Remy, she could see through the game that Cetus was playing. "No. Your father didn't betray you. Cetus was the one that did that."

The voice sighed. _"I figured. That's why I had to be in that ooze."_ She was about to ask about the ooze when he asked something she never thought she'd hear that voice say. _"Who are you?"_

Chills went down her spine. Her husband didn't know who she was. She wanted to cry, but held back her tears. She needed answers and fling to pieces wouldn't give them to her. "Lisanna, my name is Lisanna."

" _That's a pretty name."_ The voice said. "Who is Xenia?"

"She's ou…my daughter." She wanted to give in to this hope, but how did she know that it was real? This could have been a delusion for all she knew.

" _Oh. I wonder why that name sounds familiar."_ The voice continued.

She did know whether to be happy or not. If this was Bickslow and he remembered their daughter, it made her happy, but the fact that he had no memory of her was heartbreaking. "Is that all you think is familiar?"

 _"Well, your voice is. Maybe that's why I kept hearing it."_ He said, making her heart skip a beat. She hadn't felt this happy in ages.

"Where did you hear it?" She had to know. She had to make sure that this was real.

 _"When I was locked in the ooze, I could hear you voice in the back of my head. It was soothing."_ He said.

She broke into tears. This was really happening. "Where are you now?"

 _"In this weird room, that's full of mirrors. I kind of want to see what's in them, but I think that's why I was in the ooze in the first place. I got caught snooping."_ He stated.

From what she remembered, Bickslow had told her about that place. It had to be him. He was still alive in there.

 _"Are you crying?"_ He said and she fell to her knees. She couldn't believe it. He was still alive.

"Try and remember everything first. Then try and get out okay." She said.

There was a slight laugh to his voice that made her smile. _"Whatever you say, Lisanna."_

And with that he was gone. She wasn't sure if that was a real thing that had happened or just a dream, but now she was fired up. If there was a chance to save her husband, she would walk towards it. It didn't matter what she did. She just wanted her family back.

* * *

Xenia sighed. Night had fallen and no one had come back. Strangely enough, the boy that was staring at her, was still sitting under a tree below. It even looked like he was trying to read a book in the dark. Just who was he?

If she just teleported down there for a second, it couldn't hurt. He looked like he wanted to talk to her and she was bored.

She let her eyes light up and in seconds she was down on the ground. He was only a couple of feet away from her.

He looked up from his book and she got a really good look at him. He had bright red hair and the same red eyes. To her surprise, they glowed in the darkness. Was that how he was reading?

He looked amused as he stared up at her. "So the princess had finally come down from her tower."

She looked at him in confusion. "Princess?"

He smirked. "You're always up there. I've seen you in that window every day for the last month."

She felt herself blush. "So you've been spying on me?"

That smirk stayed glued to his face. "It's not that hard. You keep your window open."

She wanted to go over and slap him. "You know that you're not much of a gentleman."

He put down his book and made to stand. "I don't know about that. Some might say that I'm a prince." He chuckled to himself. She made to back up, but he came closer. "Don't you want to see more than that tower? It looks rather boring." He offered his hand to her and she felt a little wary.

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." She said looking at him, his eyes were still glowing.

"Then why did you come down?" She wanted to smack him again. Somehow he could read her.

"I just wanted some fresh air." She said, crossing her arms.

He gave her another cocky look. "Really? I think you have a thirst for knowledge that you can't find in a dusty place like that."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You always look down at the square. You want some action. It's all over you face." He stated. She was rendered speechless as he offered her his hand again. "Let me show you what you have been missing."

She looked him over again. He seemed harmless. "What is your name?"

He gave her a funny look. "You're just now asking me this question. I thought that was what you were supposed to ask someone that when you meet them?"

She finally laughed at his words. "Then I guess I'm not much of a lady then, am I?"

He smirked at her again. "So then I guess introductions are in order."

She nodded. "Xenia. My name is Xenia."

He offered his hand to her for a third time and she reached out and took it. "Name's Ziph."

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _I'm hoping to get the next chapter out later this weekend._


	32. Chapter 32

She didn't know why she had agreed to take this boy's hand, but she did. He was right. She wanted to see more of this world. She was tired of living within those walls. The council building had been her world from the moment she came here with her grandfather and as time went by, he was starting to fall down the same path as her mother. Everyone wanted to treat her like a child. From the look of it, Ziph wouldn't.

They walked through the darkened city hand in hand. It was weird. It felt like she should know him, but she had never met him before tonight. He was just a random boy that came from out of nowhere.

She had never been on this side of the city. There were so many people. She had only seen the people that frequented the council.

He weaved them through the crowd and she couldn't help but laugh at the annoyed look on his face as he pulled her back into an alleyway. "Sorry about this, I didn't think it would be this packed down here."

She only giggled at his frustration. "It's not all bad."

"But what if someone from the council sees you out here? I thought that you needed to be hidden away." He joked.

She shook her head. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." She stated.

"Are you a mage then?" He said with that smug look back on his face.

She put her hands on her hips. "Well, yes. I am."

He laughed. "Then why were you locked away in that tower? You must not be any good."

She turned red. "I am plenty good. My family just wants to protect me."

He looked intrigued. "And why would that be?"

She glared at him. "That is none of your business."

He shrugged. "I get that. So why don't you show me this power then?"

She shook her head. "I can't. It's too dangerous."

"So what you're saying is, that you can't really do anything." He stated.

"I would knock your socks off!" She almost yelled at him.

He only laughed. "Then show me or it doesn't exist."

She didn't think. She was too angry to even try. Her hand was still in his as her eyes flashed yellow. They were no longer in the city. They were in a field. The field where her grandfather had trained her all of those years ago. The field next to the town of Magnolia.

He looked at her in shock and she gave him a smug look. "Is that good enough for you?"

But he didn't answer, he only looked up at the sky. She wondered what he was looking at, when she watched as his eyes started to glow green. That was impossible. Only members of the Resus family could do that.

But even as she thought that, the sky filled with color as the souls of the departed moved overhead. She hadn't even tried to use her eyes. "How?"

"That is my question for you." He said looking down at her.

"It runs in my family. It always has." She stated, as his eyes became red again.

"As it has run in mine." He said looking her over. "My father said that we've always had it."

"That's what my grandfather said." In shock. "What is your full name?" To think that there were more Resus's running around.

"Its just Ziph." He said.

That was odd. Maybe it wasn't the same family. "Well my last name is Resus."

He stared at her. "As in Viktor Resus?"

She froze. She had heard the name more than once. He was her uncle. The last they all knew, he was dead. "Yes…no…he was my uncle."

Ziph only looked more confused. "That's odd."

She gave him a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

He sighed. "I don't know how, but somehow the two of us are linked."

She nodded. She had felt some strange connection to the boy. "But how do we figure this out?"

He gave her a smirk. "Well, if you want…we could go and find the answer?"

She looked at him and made to shake her head. She couldn't leave her grandparents behind just so she could go off on some magical adventure with a mysterious stranger. "I can't."

He looked back up at the sky, his smirk had not left his face. "You're curious. I can see it in your eyes. You'll come to me when you want to find answers."

With that he took his hand off of hers and slid it up to the side of her face. She turned red as his eyes met hers. His eyes changed yellow and they were back in that courtyard.

She was about to ask him what he was doing, when he backed away and then disappeared. Leaving her alone by the tree.

She sighed then jumped as she heard her grandfather and papaw's calls for her. They sounded worried.

She looked back at the tree and then back at the council building. She knew she was going to get it when she was found. She might as well get it over with.

* * *

Vik froze as he saw it. The hole in the shield was small, but there was just enough space there to crawl under it. He looked over at his daughter and found that she was smiling. They would be free soon.

They ran up to the hole and he nodded to her as she got to the ground and started to slide under it. He helped push her legs under and almost cried as she stood up on the other side. For the first time, she was standing in a zone of freedom.

Now he knew it was his turn. He got to the ground and started to slide under the shield. He pushed out his hands and Lily began to pull him out from under the shield.

He pulled himself out and found himself on the other side of the shield. Lily looked like she was going to say something, but he heard some footsteps. "Go!" He whispered harshly to her.

He got up and ran, following her through the darkness. He knew they were on the Fiore side of the line, but he didn't know what Cetus had up his sleeve. For all he knew, the demon king could have had some guards that monitored the hole, looking for those who were planning to escape.

They hid behind a large group of trees and bushes as the footsteps came closer. He heard a gun cock and he readied himself to use his magic. It would be the only way that Lily had some chance of escape.

He looked down at her as he prepared to tell her to run.

"Who's out there?" He froze…that couldn't be.

Lily must have seen the confused look on his face as she gave him a questioning look. "Dad?" She whispered to him.

"25, its me." He said loudly.

He heard a gun drop than some running. He came from behind the tree and they came face to face. She looked up and own him and to his shock, she looked like she was about to cry. "I…I thought you were dead." Before he could say more she had run up to him and was hugging him. "We all thought that you were dead." She looked up at his face.

"Well, I'm not. I'm just glad to see a friendly face." He stated before looking back to the woods. "Lily, you can come out. It's safe."

25 looked confused as his daughter came out of the brush. Lily looked just as puzzled. "Dad, are we safe now?"

He nodded and 25 looked really confused. "You…you have a child?"

He looked back down at her as she finally pulled herself out of his arms. "Yeah. She's mine and Rosa's…I mean 32."

25 was looking her over. "Where is she? Where is Rosa at?" He was surprised to hear her call 32 by her taken name, but disregarded it. There were more important things to dwell on.

He sighed. "I don't know. We tried to wait for her, but I had no idea when the hole would close. I wanted to make sure that Lily could escape." He said with a frown. He hated that he had to leave Rosa behind.

Lily made a sniffing noise. "Will we ever see mommy again?"

He didn't know how to answer her. The girl was far from stupid. She would know if he lied to her.

He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I don't know, honey. I don't know."

He pulled her into a hug as he heard a beeping sound behind him. 25 was talking into some kind of communications device. "Get me the heads of army and training affairs." The voice of the other side started speaking quickly on the other side, only to be interrupted by 25. "Just get them for me, I have a surprise for them." She was starting to look frustrated. "What do you mean they are out?!" She huffed and put that device down. "It looks like we are riding back to base."

He gave her a confused look. "Who were you talking about?"

She gave him a look and a laugh. "Your parents."

He couldn't believe it. "Why would my parents be working with the King of Fiore?"

She looked him over. "It's a long story, but from the look of you, I can tell that you have one of those too."

"You don't even know that half of it." He stated as she motioned for them to follow and he did.

She gave him a curious look. "What I want to know is how you and Rosa had a child."

He felt his body tense up. He knew about his wife's prior relationship. "I was lonely. She was lonely. It just kind of happened."

25 seemed to accept this. "Did you ever think of anyone out here?" She knew that she wasn't referring to Kitt and Edvin. She didn't even know about the 3 of them.

"Of course we did. Not a day went by that we didn't talk about it." He said truthfully.

She didn't look at him as they reached their mode of transport. It was just a simple magical car. "Those two are at Blue Pegasus if you want to see them." She stated.

He froze. He knew that they would have stayed together, but it surprised him that it didn't hurt. After all of this time, he knew that they were different people. He had even killed Kitt's mother. He could not go back to them. "No, they are better off without me."

She turned to look at him, staring up into his eyes. "Did you love her?"

He looked straight back at her. "Yes. I did."

* * *

Remy cursed as he and Ivan started towards the tree in the square. He just seen Xenia under it. She was going to get it when he got there. She had scared him to death with her disappearing act.

"What the hell do you think you're doing out here, young lady?!" He said rounding on her.

She turned red. "I just wanted to look at the stars." She answered.

"You know what could have happened to you?!" He chastised her. She knew how dangerous the outside world was. A war was going to be sparked between Miresa and Fiore. Spies could be anywhere.

"Yes, I know!" She said glaring at him.

He looked back at her angrily. Why was she mad? She had no reason to be. "I just want you to be safe."

"No, you just want to control me." She said trying to push past him and Ivan.

"Xenia, just listen your grandfather." Ivan stated.

"Why? The two of you couldn't even keep track of your own kids, why should I listen to you?!" She snapped.

That stung, even as he looked at Ivan, he could see how painful that stab had been.

She looked at the two of them and looked down at the ground. "Grandpa…I.."

He walked away. He just wanted a moment alone.

"Papaw…" He could hear Ivan following him, but paid him no mind. He was distracted. He knew that he had failed both of his children.

"Remy…" He turned to look at Ivan. His partner looked like he was on the brink of tears.

"Where did we go wrong, Ivan?" He said looking back up at the sky.

Ivan sighed. "I wish I knew."

He was going to say something when a guard began to run across the square towards them. "What does he want at this hour?"

Ivan shrugged as they both turned around. Xenia was looking down at the ground as she held back her tears. He knew she was frustrated by all of this. He just wanted her safe. Was that too much to ask?

"Master Remy, Master Ivan, Miss Arma has called for your assistance." The man said giving them a salute.

"Isn't it kind of late for that?" He said.

"Yeah, tell Arma that she can take care of it herself." Ivan said. "She's more than capable."

"I tried to tell her that, sir, but she wants the two of you to teleport to her location. She wouldn't say why, but said that it was really important." The soldier continued.

He sighed. "Very well. Take my granddaughter back to her room and guard it with your life."

Xenia looked at him ready to argue, when he gave her a look and she just looked down again, defeated. He never liked that look on anyone. It sickened him to see her with that look, but he had work to do.

"Let's get this over with, Ivan." He stated, taking his lover's hand. "Do you have her location?"

The soldier nodded. "She's near the border. The base to the east."

He knew the place. He looked back at Ivan one last time before disappearing into the night.

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _It looks like I'm finally back on track._


	33. Chapter 33

Remy looked over at Ivan. He still had no idea way they were out here. Arma was acting so secretive about this. It made no sense. He could be getting after Xenia for her actions. She could have been killed. Sure there was no one who would dare in Fiore, but the threat still stood. She was the last thing he had of Bickslow. He wasn't just going to let her go.

Ivan sighed. He must have wondered when Arma was going to show her face. They could be asleep if it wasn't for this. Between Xenia and this, they weren't going to get shit. "Maybe we should come back in the morning." Ivan started.

He shook his head. "I want to see what was deemed this important. He grumbled.

Ivan seemed ready to interject when a young girl walked into the tent. She looked terrified. He noted that she was small for her age. Her growth was stunted. She must have not had much. It reminded him of why he hated Fiore.

She looked up at him and he have her sad face a smile. Her green eyes looked on the verge of tears. There was something about those eyes that looked familiar, he just couldn't place them.

Ivan looked at her . "What is a little girl like you doing here?"

She walked up to them warily. "Daddy and I had to run. We had to leave on back in that place."

Now he was confused, what were they running from in Fiore? "Where are from?" He asked.

"Miresa. We escaped through a hole in the shield." She said tearfully.

Miresa? But that was impossible. Cetus would never allow something like that. Did something like that to happen. Would he? "How?" He didn't mean to sound so rude to the child but she seems fine.

"The Queen is sick. He wasn't paying attention." The girl said. He was kind of impressed, her English was a little broken but that was because she hadn't been taught properly.

I can have her a smile and patted her on the head. "What's your name?"

The girl smiled. "Lily."

"That's a pretty name." He said.

The girl laughed. "Well, Dad, always says that since mom was a rose with thorns, that I was a Lily. Pretty to look at but poisonous."

He wondered what that meant. She looked harmless. "Why would he say that?"

She giggled "Because I got his magic."

So the girl could use magic. It wasn't too surprising most of Miresa was filled with it these days. Now he had to wonder what kind of magic Lily's father had. It had to be dangerous. Now he understood why Arma had called them.

He looked over at Ivan. They had to get her back to the council. Ivan nodded at him and they were about to move as Arma walked in….She wasn't alone.

His heart stopped. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. "Vik..?"

Ivan had jumped up from his seat. "Is that really you?"

Vik gave them a smile. "Sorry it took so long. That bastard really likes his fancy shield."

Tears welled in his eyes. This couldn't be happening. He was dreaming. He seriously believed that Cetus would have killed Vik. He would have seen him as a threat. He made to stand. He had to know if this was real.

Vik just walked forward. It looked like he was also in a state of shock. His son must have trout that he was never getting out of there. "You know, I'm really here, right." Vik teased.

He couldn't take it anymore. He lunged forward and hugged his child against him. He was real. He was there. This was a miracle. "How?" That seemed to be the only word he could say.

He made to pull away only for Ivan to tackle Vik. "We thought you were dead."

Vik turned red. "No..." He looked like he didn't want to talk about his ordeal.

He put his hand on his songs shoulder. "Take your time. You can tell us when you're ready."

Vik gave him a smile. "I appreciate that. Just being out is a lot to absorb. And I'm not even seeing this for the first time."

He wondered for a second what his son was talk about, when Lily walked up to them with a puzzled look on her face. "Daddy, who are those guys?"

He froze up, then looked between the young girl and Vik. He could see the similarities. Her short black hair, her nose, even the shape of her eyes was the same. "But I thought you were…."

Vik gave him a sad frown. "I am…It's just after spending so many years alone, Rosa and I just couldn't take it anymore."

His mind flashed back to Rosa. If what Lily said was true. She had been left he behind. Only Vik and his daughter had escaped.

Vik walked past them and pulled her over to them. "Lily. These are your grandparents."

He watched the young girl stare at them in wonder. "Grandparents?" From her tone, it was as if she had no idea what that meant.

He only smiled as he lowered himself down to her level. "Your daddy is my son."

Ivan chuckled. "He's also mine."

She looked between the two of them and started to smile. "You mean it's not just me and daddy out here?"

Both of the shook their head and she jumped forward, giving him a hug. "Really, Vik, what have you been feeding her?" He joked.

Vik just frowned at them. "We weren't completely without food. Cetus had his interest in Lily after all."

He gave him a dark look back. "What do you mean by that?" He hoped that this wasn't going where he thought it was going.

Vik sighed. "She was supposed to marry Cetus's son."

He breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't a good train of thought, but it was better than where he started. "So Cetus has a child?"

Vik nodded, but Lily spoke up. "He's not very nice. He's scary."

Vik put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Lily, why don't you go get something to eat? 25 said she would get you something." She gave him a smile then ran off. He watched his son look after his daughter with a smile on his face.

"So tell us more about this kid." Ivan said, offering Vik a seat.

Vik took a seat and the two them moved back to where they had been sitting. "Well, the prince of Miresa is possibly one of the most dangerous people in all of Miresa, or he would have been."

"I don't like the sound of that." Ivan stated.

"Lily discovered the hole in the shield because of him. He's been missing for a while. I don't know what he is up to, but he is in Fiore. I just don't know where." Vik sounded frustrated. He could see that being a parent had changed his son.

"What does he look like?" He asked.

Vik looked him in the eye. "He has bright red hair, just like Flare's, but it is his eyes that mark him as a Resus."

He felt dumbfounded. "That doesn't make sense. Only the first born child of a Resus has those eyes."

"I don't know, but he has them and from what I've seen they are terrifying. Cetus has what he views as the perfect son." Vik stated.

He wanted to growl. That demon had really stolen everything from Bickslow. He even got what should have been the best years of his life. Bickslow should have been at home with his wife and his daughter. Now that demon had torn away that life from him as well by having a child with another woman and raising it to be a monster.

"We'll have to make sure that the security is up. We can't have Xenia sneaking off again." Ivan said.

He did growl this time. If someone even thought about touching his either of his granddaughters, he would make sure their death was as slow and agonizing as possible.

* * *

Xenia sighed. She knew that she shouldn't have said those things to her grandfather, but it just wasn't right. She shouldn't have to be stuck in a tower all day.

She heard a knock on the door and looked over. The woman with the dread locks entered her room with her son. Gunner frowned at her and she glared at him. "From what I understand, the two of you had an argument."

She looked away from them and out the window. She didn't want to talk to him. Not after he thought so lowly of her father's power. "He can do as he pleases."

The woman sighed. "I know it is hard, but this is all for your protection."

She glanced back at the woman. What would she possibly know? She had her freedom. "Why? Why do I have to be stuck in here, while everyone else gets to go out and fight?!"

"There is a risk involved…" The woman started.

"Because of what happened with my father…" She looked back out the window. "Does everyone just expect me to be possessed by some demon!" She groaned. Her eyes flashed as she spoke.

The woman grabbed her son and they moved behind the door in fear.

She sneered. "Just what I thought."

Suddenly a force moved quickly throughout the room, causing the door to slam shut. She heard Gunner and his mother as they knocked frantically.

"I thought they would never leave." She turned around to find Ziph sitting on her bed. He was smirking up at her.

"What did you do?!" She said, marching over to him.

He chuckled. "I just wanted us to be alone. They were getting in the way. Don't you agree?" He reached out his hand to her.

She blushed as she backed away. "I don't see how they were in the way."

He just gave her a smug smile. "They're afraid of you. Just like they are afraid of me. Funny how that is."

"That's not funny Ziph." She said.

"Come now, you saw them hide from you. There is no reason to deny that you and I are alike." He stated, standing up and walking towards her.

"I don't like to scare people." She said as he walked to her, she backed up into a wall and he had boxed her in. She didn't realize how much taller he was than she was.

He leaned down, so that he was looking in her eyes. "But you like power, Xenia. You've always wanted power."

She wanted to look away, but it was like she was under a trance. His eyes were mesmerizing. "No..I…"

"Come and discover the truth with me." He said.

She felt like a moth being pulled by a flame as his arm went down her side and around her back. She couldn't control herself as she nodded.

He smirked. "What was that?"

She looked down. "I'll….I'll go with you."

He grinned as his eyes flashed and they disappeared.

She opened her eyes to find herself in the middle of nowhere. What was this place? He let go of her and gave her a sly smile. "How do you like your freedom?"

She wondered what he was talking about. This wasn't freedom. "What did you do to me?"

He let out a chuckle. "I did nothing. You made that decision on your own."

She shook her head. "You were going to hurt those people."

"No, I only wished to scare them. They were going to try and back you into a corner." He stated.

"And how would you know that?" She said, getting in his face.

He gave her a serious look. "That boy thinks you are pretty."

She gave him a puzzled look. "Why does that matter? And how would know that? He's never said anything about it."

Ziph grumbled. "It's all over his face. I can see it in the way he looks at you."

"Again, why does that matter?" She said pressing him for answered.

He smirked as his eyes changed color. The sky let up and looked so beautiful. "You are an interesting person. I just want to know more about you."

"That doesn't answer my question." She said, her voice had dropped down to a whisper.

He had come close again. His eyes turned off as they just looked into one another. The lights from the sky had gone dark and it now appeared as if they were surrounded in darkness.

The world had disappeared and they were the only two here. She was having trouble breathing as he leaned forward. "I've thought about this. I've thought about it a lot."

"Thought about what?" She said, leaning into him.

His eyes drooped as he kissed her. She didn't pull away. She gave in. She let him kiss her and she kissed him back. His arms at some point ended up behind her back, pulling her closer against him as her hands moved up his chest.

He wasn't rough. He wasn't frantic. He was calm. He was in control.

His lips pulled off of hers and she only looked up into his eyes. His hand came up and touched the side of her face. "Let's get going. We need to figure this out."

She nodded. "Lead the way."

He smirked. "Just follow me."

To Be Continued….

Author's Note

Xenia, Xenia, Xenia….what the hell do you think you're doing? That's probably not a very good idea.


	34. Chapter 34

Dawn hit quickly as they returned to the council. Xenia would be excited to see that she has a cousin. Now she wouldn't be alone. Ivan sighed. He wished things were different, but that was life. They had just gotten Vik back; they were lucky to get that. He shouldn't be complaining.

Remy looked happy though. It was the happiest he had seen his lover in a long time. It was almost as if he could actually see the man he fell in love with again. He had gotten so used to watching Remy walk around like a corpse that it was refreshing to see him smiling and laughing.

Lily was the best surprise. She was a giggling mess. The fact that Vik had a child had surprised him but knowing what had happened, he wasn't surprised. He just wondered how Kitt and Edvin were going to react to this. The two of them would be happy to see Vik. Strangely enough, Vik hadn't even brought them up. He would have thought he would be all over that. But he did have a child to think about. A child that had just lost her mother. Vik was probably being mindful of his daughter's feelings.

They appeared right outside of the council building, but he was surprised to find the entire lawn covered with soldiers. What was going on?

"What's the meaning of this?!" Remy said, pissed off at the display.

"I'm sorry, sir, but there has been a breach in security." One of the guards said.

"A breach?" He asked. Who would have tried to get into the council?

"Ivan, Remy." He turned to find Warner and Carma, their son Gunner followed them.

He watched as they stopped in their tracks as their eyes fell on Vik. His youngest son gave them a smile. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"How?" Carma asked.

He didn't want to answer for Vik but his son had already told them the tale. They needed to figure out what had happened. "Later, what's going on here?"

Carma turned red and was about to say something, but she was interrupted by her son. "It's my fault. If we hadn't have gotten into a fight, she wouldn't have gone with him."

"I don't like the sound of that." Remy said. He was about to wonder why when he remembered who lived here.

"Please tell me that Xenia is upstairs." He started.

"He convinced her to leave with him." Gunner continued.

"Who is he?" Remy said his anger rising.

"He said he wanted to meet her" He looked down at Lily.

Vik dropped down to look at his daughter. "Is that the reason he left?" Lily nodded. "Why didn't you say this sooner?"

"Because he told me he would kill me if I did. His magic is scary. He is a half demon, Dad. His eyes are always glowing. It makes him creepy." The girl was on the verge of tears.

Vik pulled his daughter against him. "Prince Ziph is a monster. We have to find her, before he takes her to Cetus."

"He kept trying to drag her through the city earlier today. Then I lost them." Gunner said. "Then they just appeared under that tree in the square. He disappeared after that."

"Then he reappeared in Xenia's room." Carma said. "Right before he left with her."

Part of him knew this day would come. His granddaughter wasn't happy. She was bound to run off sooner or later, but the fact that she ran off with such a boy was so unlike her. "Did she go willingly or did he kidnap her?" It was best if they knew the whole story.

"From what I saw, it looked like she went willingly." Gunner said. The boy looked very annoyed. From the look of it, he must have had a crush on her. Too bad Xenia didn't notice it.

"So we'll need to send more guards to the borders. We have to make sure that no one gets through." Remy sounded scared. He could only imagine what his lover was thinking. Again, he didn't know what they could be doing. Xenia wasn't safe. That bastard could be doing anything to her. The girl had no concept of the outside world…which was their fault. If only they had trusted her more. This wouldn't have happened. Of course they would lose Xenia after getting Vik back. It was just how life worked…wasn't it.

* * *

Laxus sighed. He was tired. He hated being up this early. Maky had just gone out on his first job with his friends and he was waiting for them to get back.

Mira smiled behind him. "You know that they'll be fine."

He turned around and gave her a smile. "I know, but I can't help but worry. After my dad ran off with Remy and Xenia, it's just become crazy again." He sighed. "I thought that we had finally become a real family."

She walked up and grabbed his arm. "We are a real family. Ivan just…I don't like that Remy and him ran off with Xenia, but wherever they went, they must have had a reason."

He smiled at her. "I know, but I can't help but wonder what they are doing."

She nodded as the door to their house burst open. He expected to find his son, but to his shock, Lisanna was standing there. She was in tears as she looked around. "He's…."

"Lisanna, what are you doing here at this hour?" Mira asked.

But Lisanna was only looking at him. "Bickslow…" With that she fell to the ground and went limp.

Mira rushed forward to help her sister, while he remained frozen. His brother was dead. He told himself that every day. There was no way that he could still be alive. Not after all of his time.

But now as he looked down at Lisanna, he noticed something strange. She had looked alive. For the last 15 years, she had looked like a corpse to the world. Did this mean that Bickslow was alive? Did it mean that he was trying to break free of Cetus? He would have to call the others. Even if he couldn't find Ivan and Remy, he could still contact Warner and Carma. They would find this interesting.

* * *

Xenia walked behind Ziph. She didn't know where they going. He hadn't said anything since they had kissed.

She blushed as she remembered it, the shook her head. She shouldn't have done that. For all she knew, they could be related. She didn't want to think about it, she had already kissed some random person. She still couldn't believe that she had kissed him. That was her first kiss. It was supposed to be special and she had gone and given it to this boy.

She felt a little tired, but Ziph seemed perfectly fine. It was like he didn't need to sleep or something. "Umm…"

He looked back at her, still looking satisfied with himself. "What?"

"I was wondering if we could stop. We've been up all night." She said.

He frowned. "We have to get to our destination."

She felt puzzled. "What destination? We've been walking for hours."

He gave her a sly smile. "We're going towards the answer to our questions."

She looked at him in confusion. "How do you know that?"

He turned her around and pinned her against a tree. "Trust me." She felt weak in the knees again. How was he doing that? Just one look from him was enough to seduce her.

"But…" She stuttered.

He ran his finger across her lips. "Shhh…." She felt like she was going to buckle against him, when she heard talking through the brush.

She felt him jump as 3 guys came out of the forest. He stared at them. They all looked angry. "Just what do you think you're doing?!" The one that looked like he was the leader said.

"Maky, you can't just attack someone for no reason." A boy with long purple hair said.

"He had a reason. This girl was in trouble." A boy with dirty blond hair said.

It hit her quickly. These three were… "Makarov? Libert? Goyle?"

All three of them looked at her in shock. "Xenia!" She was tackled in seconds and was almost forced to the ground.

"Get off of me!" She shouted but they weren't paying attention. They were all really happy to see her. "Guys, I can't breathe."

They slowly got off of her and she looked around Ziph was standing there glaring at them. It looked like he didn't want to be interrupted.

"We thought you disappeared!" Goyle said.

Maky rolled his eyes. "People just don't disappear, idiot."

"Unless they die." Libert said, slipping his glasses back.

This time she rolled her eyes. "You three haven't changed have you?"

Maky laughed. "You could say that again." Her cousin had grown taller. "So where is grandpa?"

She froze. Papaw Ivan used to spend a lot of time with Maky. Of course he would ask about that. "He's around."

Maky didn't look to happy about that. "So he ran off with you and Grandpa Remy then? Figures."

She glared at him. He was always a spoiled brat. "Grandpa had to go help the council. Papaw loves him. Of course he would follow him."

Maky continued to frown. "I still don't know why they had to run off. The guild would have taken care of everything. Grandpa Remy is just a crazy fool."

She smacked him hard. "Take that back!"

Both Libert and Goyle made to stop her, but then froze in place. She turned back to Ziph. "Enough with the interruptions." His eyes were green; he was holding onto their souls. "Come Xenia." He reached his hand out to her again. "It's the only way that you can discover the truth."

Maky glared at him. "Who the fuck is this guy?" Her cousin could still move and he made to walk forward. She put her arm out in front of him.

"Ziph, let them go." She said angrily.

Ziph only smirked. "You know that price of that Xenia."

She nodded. "Yes. I know."

He let the other two go, but they fell to the ground limp. Maky ran over to check his friends. "You monster!" Maky's body filled with electricity.

But then he was tossed around like a rag doll. All the while, Ziph was laughing. "Oh please. This is just child's play for me."

"Ziph! Stop!" She screamed.

He turned around to look at her. His eyes almost murderous. "Why? Don't you see how much fun it is?"

She shook her head as she ran forward and took his arm. Her eyes flashed yellow and they disappeared from the forest they were in. Now they were in an open meadow.

He looked down at her and smirked. "I see."

She was in tears. "Why did you do that?! I already told you that I would go with you!" She screamed.

He just smiled at her. "Because they don't know their place, Xenia."

"What?" She didn't understand him at all.

He leaned against her and looked into her eyes. "They aren't like us, Xenia. They need to learn their place in this world."

"I don't understand." She said, tears were still falling from her eyes.

He reached up and wiped them off. "You were born better than that. You were born in Miresa."

She froze. "How do you know about that?" She asked, leaning away from him.

"Because I too was born in Miresa." He stated.

She shook her head. "No…" This could only mean one thing. He had to be her brother. She felt sick to her stomach. She had kissed her brother.

He laughed. "Don't be getting sick on me. It won't look good on my bride."

She froze again. "Your what?"

He looked at her darkly. "Father promised me a different bride, but she wasn't what I wanted. I discovered that the whelp whose body he was using, had a little girl. I was interested in you from that point on."

She tried to back away, but he wasn't letting her. "But you're my brother."

He shook his head. "No. I am the son of Flare Corona and King Cetus of Miresa. You are the daughter of Bickslow and Lisanna Resus."

"But Cetus is using my father's body…" She said disgustedly.

"Then how am I a demon? If my father were truly human, wouldn't I be too? Such things are over ridable." He stated.

"But I still don't understand. Why me?" She said fearfully.

He looked deeply into her eyes. "Because I need you."

She felt that strange feeling again, but it was now accompanied by nausea. "Why?"

"Why ask so many questions? You'll get your answers in time." He said, running his hands through her long white hair.

She felt dirty. "Don't touch me!" She screamed.

He made to laugh, but groaned when she stomped on his foot. She was barely able to get away from him. He was about to flash his eyes at her, but she used hers first, landing her back at the council and in front of her grandfather.

"Xenia?!" She found herself surrounded by a group of people that she knew. She couldn't help but shake. She was terrified. "Are you okay?" Her grandfather asked, while everyone started to talk around her.

A strange girl with black hair walked up to her. "You've seen him."

She could only nod. Her fear was forcing her mouth shut.

"You know what he wants then?"

Again she nodded, but said nothing.

"He won't stop."

Tears rolled down her face. She had only felt safe for a second. The girl was right. Ziph would come back for her. It was a part of his mission.

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _So Ziph has finally revealed his some of his master plan. He really is an evil son of a bitch. (Sorry Flare but you kind of are in this.) Besides, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree._


	35. Chapter 35

She didn't know how long she had stayed in bed. She snapped awake to find that she wasn't alone. Her grandfather was sitting close to the edge of her bed. He looked worried. She knew that she went too far.

"Grandpa." She watched as he looked at her sadly. Tears started to well in her eyes. "I'm…I'm sorry."

He just looked at her. "You scared all of us, Xenia. I just want to know more about this Ziph character."

She flinched upon hearing his name. She wasn't sure that she could handle it. "I thought he was kind."

He sighed. "You've been told that the world out there is dangerous. I just want to know why thought you needed to leave with him. Did he threaten you?"

She shook her head. "No…" She didn't want to talk about this. She feared where her thoughts would lead her. If he knew the real reason, he would be angry with her. She couldn't believe that she had found that bastard to be attractive. He was the son of Cetus. The demon that ruined her family. The monster that had taken her father from them had gone and made a son using her father's body. She could just imagine how crushed her mother would be if she found out.

"Xenia, can you talk to me?" Her grandpa said, making her jump.

She sighed. "It's just a lot to process. I didn't think that he would make another child." She said, trying to get off of the subject of that. She couldn't think of Cetus making a child. She didn't want to think about how the boy had made her feel. Before she had run into Maky and his friends, she had been pretty content to follow him anywhere. Why?

Then there was what that little girl had said to her. Did Ziph really come to Fiore just for her? How did he even know about her? Sure, Cetus gained power after she was born, but she didn't know that the demon knew of her existence.

"Neither did I. I didn't even know that he was keeping Flare around for that." Her Grandfather didn't look at her. He only stared at the wall. "Did that boy do anything to you?" He asked.

She couldn't stop herself from turning red if she tried. She had gone along with him kissing her. He was insane, but for some odd reason, she had been drawn to him.

"Xenia, did he touch you?" He said, sounding more firm.

She looked down at the bed spread. "He…he kissed me."

Her grandfather looked angry. "Anything else?"

She felt embarrassed. She didn't want to talk about this stuff with him and she really didn't want him to know that she had enjoyed it. "No."

The older man sighed. "I know that you are going to be mad at me, but I'm going to assign you a body guard."

She felt herself stiffen. "But Grandpa…"

"No buts. You are clearly a target for Cetus's plans and I would feel better if you had someone to guard you." Her Grandfather argued.

She glared at him. "I can take care of myself."

He sighed. "Then why were you just taken?"

"I left because I wanted to!" She snapped. "I wanted the freedom he promised me!"

Her Grandfather looked at her, then back at the wall. "You are free. It's just dangerous."

"You know that it's not the same!" She said, pulling herself out of bed. "It's like I'm a prisoner in this place. Do you really expect me to stay here?"

He looked at her sadly and she wondered what was going on. "You're not staying here."

"What?" She pondered.

"You will be moved to the Fairy Tail guild. There are more people that can look after you there." He stated.

She tensed up. She was going to have to come face to face with her mother. She had to wonder how off her rocker the woman had become. "But I don't want to go there."

"You will go and stay there. We have no idea what that boy is planning and I want you to stay safe." Her Grandfather snapped.

She looked down at the bedspread. "Is this because I disobeyed you again?"

"You know the reason, Xenia." Her Grandfather sighed. "Lily will be going with you. I know that Makarov will want to see her."

"Who is she anyway?" She asked. The strange little girl seemed to know who Ziph was.

"She's your cousin. Your uncle, Vik, has returned." She froze. Her Grandfather sounded so happy, but at the same time she was a little confused. Cetus's shield was supposed to be impenetrable. How did they get out? "You should take the time to get to know all of your cousins. I know that Maky and Goyle will want to see you. Along with your mother."

She nodded. "Mom is going to be angry with me."

Her Grandfather frowned. "I should have never taken you from the guild."

"I wouldn't have learned anything if I had stayed there." She said. "Even If you haven't tried to show me anything new in ages."

He sighed. "One of these days, you will see that I was right all along."

She rolled her eyes. She just couldn't see that happening.

"Now go ahead and pack. Gunner and Lily are waiting for you." He said standing up and leaving the room.

She stood there for a second and took everything in. This wasn't fair, but she had no choice.

* * *

Remy sighed as he looked at Ivan. Neither of them liked this, but this was the only chance they would have. Vik told them that the hole in the shield was not going to last forever.

Vik was sitting there staring at the ceiling. His youngest son was dealing with being separated from his daughter. It was only for now. It wasn't permanent. He put his hand on Vik's shoulder. "This is the only way. You know that she will be safe there."

Vik nodded. "I know, but I can't help but worry. Lily's not used to the outside world. She's smart, but with Ziph running around, I'm going to be on edge."

"Laxus will keep an eye on her. Trust me, between him and Makarov, she will be safe." Ivan stated. "It's Xenia that I'm worried about. She could still run off."

"She'll be too busy. She'll have plenty of kids her own age to run around with." Remy stated. He heard a knock on the door and he turned to find Carma standing there with Warner.

"Gunner will keep her safe." Warner said.

Carma sighed. "I just wish that she hadn't tried to run off like that. I just wanted to get them talking. Gunner felt bad about what he had said earlier."

He had to wonder what the boy had said. "And what would that be?"

Warner rolled his eyes. "All the boy said was that Cetus's shield had to have a weak point. There was no reason for her to take offense to that."

Now that was surprising. "She has a lot of bite to her."

"Gunner's got his hands full." Warner said.

He chuckled. "That he does. But that isn't the reason that we are all here." He looked back at Vik. "How long do you think that the opening will last?"

"I don't know. From what Lily said, it looks like Prince Ziph made it, so there's a chance that it's only going to be open while he is in Fiore." Vik said.

"So we have no idea if it is even an option." Ivan said.

"Not exactly. Cetus was preparing for war. There is a high chance that he will plan a strike." Vik said crossing his arms.

"What should we expect from his armies?" Warner asked.

Vik looked terrified. "There is no army."

"What?" Remy said in confusion.

"He doesn't need an army. His power is strong enough that he can make one at will. The people of Miresa will fall to his hand. He will devour their souls and used the empty husks for his amusement." Vik said.

The room had gone quiet, his son had to have some experience with Cetus's real power. "If that is the case, then his war will be far more deadly than we thought it would be."

Vik nodded. "It doesn't help that I was the one that had to oversee everything that asshole was doing."

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by everything?"

Vik looked down. "I don't want to talk about it."

Ivan walked up and put his hand on Vik's shoulder. "You need your space and I understand that, but we need to know everything about Cetus. Anything could give us an advantage."

Vik shook his head. He just didn't want to say anything. It had to be too gruesome for him to even think about it.

"What a shame." Everyone turned and they came face to face with a man that he detested. General Francis Corwall. "You know that a refusal to give up intel to the King's men is a crime of the highest order." The man chuckled.

Ivan glared at him. "I would like to see you come back in one piece from that wasteland!"

The ancient looking old man cackled. "I would have in my younger days, but sadly, I can't do much with these old bones." Corwall looked back over at Vik. "If I remember correctly, you were once in league with 25. What a shame. You turned your back on the King, that's treason you know?" The man said pointing at his son.

He couldn't take it. He gripped the man's finger and got in his face. "If I remember correctly, my husband and I were also charged with treason. You're precious King isn't perfect."

The old man scowled. "I've never liked you."

"Good, like I would ever want an old man like you singing my praises." He snapped.

"Are we having this conversation again?" Arlinton said, walking into the room.

He noticed that Warner wasn't even looking at him. After they had been introduced, Arlinton didn't seem to know what to do. So their relationship suffered. "Is mom done with her adjustments to my equipment?" Arlinton only nodded.

"Just stay out of our business, Brass. I don't have time for your shit." He snapped.

Arlinton only laughed as he lit up. "I believe that any news from Miresa is the business of the King's men."

"Of course you would think that." Warner scoffed.

"Excuse me?!" Brass said turning back to his son.

Warner chuckled. "You four and Corwall. You're nothing but dogs that the King can call to do his bidding."

"You know nothing, kid." Arlinton growled.

Warner only rolled his eyes. "Please, you really think that you're in control? That he will let you live after this is over? Don't make me laugh. Mom, Carolta, Sasha, and you will be returned to dust."

"Warner!" He snapped and the younger man looked at him. "Take a deep breath and calm yourself." He said.

He watched Warner do what he asked, but noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Arlinton was glaring at him. "Carma and I are going to go and look at Arma's report. There may be something in her notes." With that Warner stormed off and his wife followed.

Ivan sighed. "Can we go one day around her without snapping at each other?"

"You know that is impossible." He stated.

Arlinton said nothing to him and it looked like Corwall had run off. Vik still sat there in silence.

He turned to his son and smiled. "Why don't you go by Blue Pegasus?"

Vik flinched. "I don't know."

He continued to smile at his son. "It will probably do you some good."

Vik shook his head. "I don't know about that. After the things I've done…Kitt and Edvin could never love me."

"So your kid's a faggot too." Arlinton snapped. Just in time for Ivan to punch him in the face.

"Just because you don't know how to deal with your son, doesn't mean that you get to make comments about my son!" Ivan retorted.

Brass let out a small huff. "You really think I have a son?" The former brunette looked between the two of them. "I think he prefers treating the two of you like that." And with that he stormed off.

"Really what is with everyone? He has a chance to spend time with Warner and Gunner, but does nothing. What an idiot." Ivan said annoyed.

He smiled. "Says the man that never wanted children, but can't get enough of them."

Ivan stared at him. "I never said that I didn't want children, I just didn't want to be a father like my father was."

He laughed. "And that meant that you didn't want to be a father at all." He leaned forward and gave his husband a kiss on the nose. "But you know, I think fatherhood really suited you well."

Vik just sighed. "If you guys want to do that, go get a room. I may have not seen you in 15 years, but that doesn't mean I want to watch you play kissy face."

"You know, we could always do this until you finally decide to go to Blue Pegasus." Ivan pointed out and he chuckled.

"We could even go as far as to make out right here." He joked.

His son rolled his eyes. "Why is this so important to you guys?"

"We just want to see you happy." Ivan said.

Vik sighed. "It's not that easy and you know it."

Another laugh came in through the doorway. Arma giggled to herself. "Really Vik, just go do it before I call them here myself."

Vik gave her a glare. "Like you would dare."

She only laughed. "Try me."

He looked over at Ivan. Vik had never acted like this before. He was always pretty stand offish with women. He thought that it may be that she was like a sister to him, but then Vik smirked. "You're on."

She giggled as she tried to make it to the door. Vik moved quickly and in seconds he was tickling her sides. She had leaned into him as she started laughing. "St..Stop…Ha."

Vik only smirked to himself. "Do you give up?"

She tried to roll away from his tickling but he had a firm hold on her. "Nev…hahaha…never…"

Vik laughed as she got the upper hand and turned in his arms. Her foot tripped and she fell against his chest and the two of them just stared at each other. "Um…"

The two of them had turned red and now he could see something else there. Was there a chance that Vik was Bi instead? He did have a child with Rosa and from what they knew about her, Rosa was dead. Then there was the issue of Arma's sexuality. He knew that she almost always went for women. Did she see Vik that way? If he didn't believe it before, he did now.

Remy sighed. "Why don't you two go and talk things over?" He knew that Vik had been through a lot of shit. Maybe Vik knew what he was doing. His son had lived all of those years without the men that he loved. Vik found comfort in the arms of another and if he was right, that was happening again. Vik's fear would keep him away from Kitt and Edvin, but from the look of it, it would drive him right into Arma instead.

Vik did as he asked without question and he had Arma left. "Ivan what are we going to do with that boy?"

Ivan just smiled at him. "We let him live that's what."

* * *

Ziph chuckled darkly to himself. They really thought that they had the upper hand? He could see their plan from the beginning. He already knew about this Fairy Tail guild.

It was just too bad. His bride would never make it there. He blended back into the shadows as he watched the party of three.

That boy was the bane of his existence and Lily was a little traitor. What was she doing outside of Miresa? His father would not be very happy about that, but that was of no concern of him. His father would be happier after he saw his new bride. He just knew it.

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _Sorry, this is late. I made it a lot longer to make up for it._

 _If you think that General Corwall came out of nowhere as a character, then you haven't checked out the oneshot on my page. Teleport My Heart will tell you all that you need to know about him._


	36. Chapter 36

Cetus snarled as his beloved coughed. She looked even worse than she had a couple of days ago. Flare looked up at him weakly.

"Cetus…" Her voice was strained as she reached towards him.

"Hold on, my love." He had taken her hand and was hoping that this wasn't the end. Not after he had worked so hard to get her back. "You can't leave me again." He wished that he could find that witch, then he wouldn't have to be separated from his love again.

"I don't want to leave you. I would never leave you willingly." She said sadly. "Tell me, where is my baby?"

He gave her a sad smile. He had no idea what Ziph was doing, but this was not the time for one of his pranks. Flare could leave them at any moment. "He's gone to do me a favor." He lied. He didn't want to see her cry again.

She only smiled weakly. "That's good. He's going to be a good man someday, just like his father."

He made to smirk. There was no way that Ziph would ever been considered good to anyone besides him and his wife. Now that he thought about it, he could only imagine the poor soul that had come in contact with his son.

* * *

Ziph chuckled to himself as he watched that poor excuse for a man lead Xenia out of town. He hated that man's intentions towards his Xenia. She wasn't made for the likes of him. Her blood was greater than that.

Then there was that traitor, Lily. What was she doing outside of Miresa? What the hole that he made still there? He didn't expect it to go untouched. Something had to be happening at home for his father not to notice.

But that wasn't his problem. Whatever it was, his father could take care of it. At least he told himself that. Maybe he should go and check. It wouldn't hurt anything, which meant that he couldn't go after Xenia just yet. He laughed to himself. It wouldn't take much. He could easily come back for her later.

* * *

Xenia sighed. She was very bored. This wasn't her idea of fun at all. She wished that she could just teleport to Fairy Tail. It would have saved them the trouble of walking, but her grandparents thought it would do her some good to reflect on everything that had happened.

"You know, you could look happier." Gunner said.

She glared at him. "Yeah, like I would be happy about being toted around that countryside like a piece of luggage."

Gunner glared back. "I figured that you would be happy to be away from that guy."

She looked away from him and sighed. "I am, but that doesn't mean that I'm out of the woods yet. He could be anywhere."

"So you think that he is following us? Why?" Gunner asked.

"Because that's what he does." Lily said sadly.

She began to feel a little bad for arguing in front of her cousin. Xenia had only seen an ounce of what Ziph was capable of. Lily had seen that her entire life. "Why don't we talk about something else?"

Gunner seemed happy enough to change the subject. "What do you want to talk about then?"

She hadn't thought about that, but before she could think if of anything, Lily spoke. "What is this Fairy Tail like?"

Xenia giggled. "Well expect a lot of loud, rowdy mages."

"Are they nice?" Lily asked, looking nervous.

Gunner laughed. "That group is nice to anyone, unless you've done something to them that is."

Lily smiled. "So I can make some….friends?"

At first she was taken aback by the idea that someone couldn't have friends, but then again, her cousin had never been outside of those walls. "Trust me, you will have plenty of those in minutes."

Lily's smile grew. "I can't imagine it."

She laughed, but then her hand brushed against something. She looked over to her side to find Gunner blushing. Their hands were rather close. She could tell what he wanted. She laughed on the inside. This would serve Ziph right, if he was watching.

She reached over and took Gunner's hand and the boy turned even redder. At the same time, her own heart skipped a beat. She didn't expect that. Did she like Gunner and not realize it? She did know him sense they were kids; they had just grown apart over the years. He had been allowed to fight and train, she wasn't. He had been surrounded by both of his parents, she had not. If anything, his family was intact. He had a mother, a father, a grandparent over at Lamia Scale, an aunt, and now more grandparents. She had been without a family for so long that she barely knew the term anymore. Sure, she had Grandpa Remy and Grandpa Ivan, but she didn't know her father. She barely knew her relatives from Fairy Tail.

His grip became tighter, but she didn't pull away. She suddenly felt at ease, but she couldn't figure out what had been stressing her out. Maybe she did have feelings for Gunner. She just didn't know that they ran this deep.

"Gunner, Xenia! Look!" Lily said excitedly.

She looked away from Gunner and over at the city in front of her. She had thought that she would never see it again. She felt nervous. What would her mother think when she saw her again? She felt a small amount of pressure on her hand and looked over at Gunner. He must have seen her anxiety. "It's going to be okay." He said, smiling at her.

She could only nod. She was far too distracted now. How could she go back to being just his friend now?

* * *

Kitt sighed as he walked with Edvin. They had been called to go to Fairy Tail. He didn't understand why they had told him that Edvin had to go with him. His boyfriend wasn't a mage, but he figured that didn't matter.

"Why did I have to come?" Edvin complained.

"I don't know." Kitt said. "But at least you get to see what I do for once."

Edvin rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Magnolia was still a rather large city. He didn't mind going to Fairy Tail, even if it brought back bad memories. He still missed his best friend and lover. Edvin missed Vik too. They didn't talk about him much. It hurt too much. Vik had to be dead. It had been far too long and Cetus wouldn't want to keep him alive. Vik would have been hard to control.

The doors to Fairy Tail were open and he took a deep breath before dragging his lover through the doors. Eyes landed on them, some of which looked away quickly, but there was one set that didn't leave.

Lisanna was walking towards them. "Lisanna…" He was surprised when she hugged them.

"I thought you had lost hope." She said tearfully. Kitt looked over at Edvin, who only shrugged. "Have you heard anything?" She said looking between the two of them frantically.

"No. We got orders to come here, but I don't know why." Kitt admitted.

Edvin sighed. "I hope this wasn't just a hoax to get me out of the house." He punched his lover in the arm. "OW!"

"Use some tact." Kitt said.

Lisanna made to laugh as more Fairy Tail mages came closer. The more Kitt looked over them, he could see some familiar faces. All of which had been there that day. The day his life went to shit.

"We weren't expecting visitors." Makarov said coming forward.

"Then why are we here?" Edvin stated.

"It really doesn't make any sense. You said that you got orders to come here?" Freed said.

He nodded and looked at Edvin. Was this really a hoax to get them out of the guild and talking to people again? If it was it was a cruel joke.

"Why don't we sit down and talk?" Laxus said, motioning the bar to get them some drinks.

Lisanna shrieked and everyone turned. Kitt froze as he saw a young girl with white hair. Lisanna began to shake. "Xenia?"

The girl blushed. "Mom…" She would have finished talking if she hadn't been tackled by her mother.

Lisanna began to cry into Xenia's shoulder. "I thought I wouldn't see you again."

"Mom…I..I can't breathe." Xenia said.

Two more people entered the guild. A boy with purple hair and darker skin and a little girl with black hair and green eyes. He didn't know either of them.

Lisanna turned and looked at the boy. "Gunner?"

The boy smiled. "It's been a while, Miss Lisanna."

"You've gotten so tall!" Lisanna glopped him as well. "How are you parents? Are they with you?"

He shook his head. "No, they are working. As am I."

Lisanna looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Kitt wondered as well. He remembered this boy when he was a baby, it was kind of hard to imagine him working as a mage now.

"I'm Xenia and Lily's bodyguard." Gunner stated.

"Bodyguard!" Lisanna said, looking at her daughter.

"It's a long story." Xenia said looking embarrassed.

Makarov walked forward, he was looking at the other girl. "You must be Lily." The young girl nodded. "That's a pretty name." She was shaking in fear.

"I wouldn't push her too much, Makarov. She came from Miresa." Gunner said.

The whole room froze. Kitt turned to look at Edvin. Was this why they had been called here?

The girl had flinched at hearing the name of the country. "Can we not talk about that place? Daddy, said I didn't have to talk about it anymore. He promised."

Makarov gave her a smile. "Mira, can you go take Miss Lily here and get some ice cream for her?"

Mira smiled and came over and took Lily's hand and led her away.

Makarov looked serious the moment Lily was out of sight. "Now spill."

Gunner sighed. "There is a small hole in the shield. So far three people had crossed the border. Two of which were friendly and the third being a threat."

"And the girl?" Laxus asked.

"She came with her father. They saw and opportunity to get out and did. Sadly, her mother is believed to be dead on the other side." Gunner said.

"So she is here for protection then? Why is Xenia under the same protection?" Lisanna asked.

"Because the third that entered was the son of Cetus and he has taken an interest in Xenia." Gunner stated.

"Gunner!" Xenia had turned red.

"Well it's the truth. He came here looking for you. And we already know that he was betrothed to Lily. Both of you are at risk." Gunner argued.

"Cetus had a son…." Lisanna said. Her eyes went wide.

"Is that the guy from the road the other day?" Everyone froze as they saw Maky and his group of friends come into the guild.

"What do you know about this?" Laxus glared at his son. The boy had clearly kept information from him.

Maky scoffed. "That bastard was just weird. He wouldn't stop looking at Xenia like she was a scrap of meat. I didn't expect him to be that strong."

Xenia looked very embarrassed. "Can we not talk about that?"

"I still don't know why you agreed to go with him," Maky said, sounding annoyed. "He was being a royal bastard and you let him play you like a violin."

"Maky, that is enough!" Makarov chastised his great grandson. The old man then turned his attention back to Gunner. "So what about Lily's father. Where is he?"

"Vik is back at the council going over everything. That guy knows more about Miresa than anyone." Gunner stated.

Edvin stared at Kitt. "Did he just say Vik…" Kitt didn't know what to think. It couldn't be. There was no way that Vik was still alive.

"Vik's knowledge will be useful. My dad said that it makes sense that Vik would have survived all of that. He used to be an assassin and spy. He knows how to walk the walk and he did it well." Gunner stated.

Suddenly that Lily girl came running across the room to Xenia. "Are they talking about Daddy?" Xenia gave her a smile and nodded. "Daddy didn't mean to do all of those things. He was forced into it. Mommy said that it was the only way we were able to survive."

Kitt felt his heart drop. Vik had a wife or at least made a child with a woman. He couldn't believe it. Part of him felt betrayed, Vik was his and Edvins. They had an agreement.

Lisanna leaned down next to the girl and gave her a sad smile. "What about your mother?"

"Daddy said that she had to be dead. Cetus must have killed her." The girl cried.

Kitt suddenly felt guilty. He shouldn't have been mad. It had been 16 years. He couldn't have expected Vik to stay that faithful for that long. Vik had to be lonely.

But where would they go from here? He wanted to see Vik again and get some answers. He just hoped that Vik wanted to see them.

* * *

Vik sighed as he walked back and forth. Arma giggled. "You don't need to act so restless."

"I'm just worried. Now that I know that Ziph is out there, I'm uneasy." He said looking up at the sky.

She walked over to him and fixed his collar. "She's in safe hands." She knew exactly what to say.

He gave her a smile. "Thank you. I'm just glad that Lily will be safe at Fairy Tail."

She sighed. "I just wish that Rosa had come back with you."

He looked down at her. "I wish that was the case, but we were running out of time."

"I miss her, Vik." She looked up at him.

He knew that he shouldn't be doing this. He had just lost his wife. He wasn't straight. He was a gay man. But he wanted to comfort Arma somewhat. He leaned down and kissed her. Which shocked her for only a second. She kissed him back to his surprise. He figured that she would push him away but she didn't.

"Stay with me tonight." Arma said, he could already see the sadness in her eyes. It was the same sadness that drove him into Rosa's arms all of those years ago.

He tilted his head against hers. "Lead the way."

* * *

Bickslow woke up and looked around. Where was he? This wasn't the same place he had been before.

He looked down and found a sleeping woman with red hair and froze. Who was she and why did he feel nothing but hatred for her?

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

 _Damn Vik, you are just a man whore at this point. There will only be about 10-15 more chapters left of this story. What will happen to everyone? You'll have to wait and see._


	37. Chapter 37

Bickslow looked around again. He didn't like this. The last thing that he remembered was being in his daughter's room.

He shook his head and it all come flowing back. Cetus had possessed him. How long had he been under? Why was he in bed with Flare instead of Lisanna? Did Cetus start a relationship with Flare?

Flare made to groan in her sleep. She was sweating a lot. She had to be sick. He checked her soul with his eyes and discovered that she was dying. But why was she dying? Her soul was weak, but it looked like something else was dragging her away. He just couldn't figure out what it was.

He pulled himself out of the bed. This couldn't be right. He thought everything over and now he was faced with reality. Cetus had taken over his life. Aboslan had to be gone. The question was how long? The fact that he broke his wife's heart was not only painful but disgusted him. And what about his daughter? She had to think the worst of him. He had been so weak. He had let Cetus in and now what was he? Nothing. That power meant nothing without Lisanna by his side.

He turned back to Flare. His eyes were dark as a new darkness started to take hold. Dark thoughts circled through his head. Cetus has ruined his life. It was only fair to ruin his in return.

His eyes focused on her throat. It wouldn't take long. Especially with the state she was in. He felt himself smirk as his hand inched toward her neck. All he needed was a couple more inches.

" _What do you think you're doing?"_ He heard Cetus say in the back of his head.

He laughed to himself. "Something I should have done a long time ago." With that he reached forward and latched onto Flare's throat. He heard her wheeze as Cetus screamed at him in the back of his mind. He felt Cetus pushing on him but he wouldn't relent. He would have his revenge. Flare's body stiffened only seconds later and he let her go as he laughed. "It isn't fun to be taken from what you love, isn't it?"

" _You bastard!"_ Cetus screamed in his mind.

Bickslow chuckled darkly then froze as he heard a growl behind him. A young boy was standing there. "What did you do to mother?!"

He was blown away. The boy was clearly a teenager. That meant he had to under for more than fifteen years. How old would his daughter be now? "What year is it?"

"Why does that matter?! You just killed mom!" The boy snapped. The redhead's eyes flashed in the darkness.

He followed suite as he brought up a shield around himself. "I'm not your father. That monster was."

The boy's eyes changed. "So you're the weakling my father used? How pathetic. You went after my mother who was already dying. You're disgusting!"

"And your father isn't. He stole everything from me! My wife, my life, my child… I'm left with nothing!" He snapped.

The boy laughed. "You're talking about Xenia?"

Rage filled him. "What do know about my daughter?!"

Again the strange boy laughed. "You mean my bride?"

Chills went down his spine. "You will not touch her!"

"I already have." He hated this boy. At first he may have felt some sympathy, but now he felt nothing but pure hatred. He wanted this child dead more than his mother.

Cetus laughed darkly in the back of his head. _"Good work, Ziph. Your mother would be proud."_

"I only aim to please you father." Ziph said back.

He felt confused. They were able to read each other's minds. He thought that was something that he one shared with his family. He had to remind himself that his family started with Cetus. Of course they could do that. But that seemed to do it. He was distracted long enough for Cetus to push forward. He felt himself pass out and he fell back into the darkness.

* * *

Cetus turned to his son. "So that's where you went?"

Ziph nodded. "I wanted to see what there was in Fiore. I didn't know mom was going to die or I would have stayed put."

Cetus looked down at Flare's broken body. Her soul was still there. It was barely hanging on. An idea entered his head. He would have his wife back. He moved quickly as he gathered her soul. "Ziph, go and find me a jar."

His son didn't question him. He only moved. He appeared with a jar seconds later. "What are we going to do father?"

Cetus chuckled. "Good back to Fiore, my son."

"What for?" Ziph answered.

"your mother needs a new body. There will be one amongst the trash. Find her and bring her here." He ordered.

Ziph nodded. "Whatever you wish, father"

With that, his son disappeared. Leaving him alone with the soul of his beloved. "Don't worry, my love. We will be together again. That ruffian did us a favor."

* * *

Lisanna giggled as she watched her daughter talk with Gunner. Xenia looked a little annoyed but was holding back. Remy and Ivan must have taught her some manners.

She remembered the days when guys looked at her like that. The days when Bickslow was still around. She was beginning to think that those conversations had been all a dream. He hadn't talked to her since the last time. She sighed as she watched them. Hoping that someday she could have that again.

* * *

Remy frowned as he woke up. Someone was knocking loudly on his door and he wanted to punch them for it. Ivan twitched next to him. They had been up late having some fun.

The door opened and he practically jumped to cover himself and his lover. He glared up to find Corwall and Brass looking at them. They both looked serious. Corwall turned green and Brass just looked away.

"Can the two of you get up. It's an emergency." Brass stated.

"What's your deal? Get up and dressed. I swear these kids these days." Corwall snorted.

"You know that this is our room right. We can be as naked as we want to be." Ivan groaned.

"Just get out of bed. It looks like the shield is complete gone. We need to go over a battle plan." Brass said.

Now that got his attention. He jumped out of bed and started getting dressed. "That's the last thing I wanted to see today." Corwall croaked.

He glared at the man as he finished up. "No one said you had to watch."

Across from him, Ivan had gotten up and was finishing up as well. "Just shut it, old man."

Brass only rolled his eyes. "If all of you are done arguing, I would like to get going. This maybe our only chance."

He nodded and made it towards the door. As he walked by Corwall, he noticed that the man seemed more freaked out than usual. He couldn't figure out why. It was probably more disgust for having witnessed them. "Keep your eyes to yourself old man." Corwall jumped and he laughed as they headed out of there room and down the hall.

He started to wonder what would cause Cetus to lower his shield completely. Was he searching for his son or was the war starting? Was this the demon's plan all along?

The King gave them a sour look. "You're late."

He returned the look. "Maybe if you sent some better people, it wouldn't have taken long." He really didn't understand why he would send Corwall and Brass in the first place. He could have always sent Warner or Carma. The two of them were standing off to the side talking to one another.

"Can we move on? There are more important things than the whereabouts of those two. We need to make a plan." Remy couldn't help but be proud as Vik walked in with Arma. She looked a little off. He could tell what they had been doing. It wasn't that didn't he approved of the two of them. He still wanted answers about Kitt and Edvin. Why wasn't his son going out of his way to find them?

"55 has a point. Right now is the perfect time to strike." The King said as a giant map opened up. He could clearly see the edge of Fiore. There was an X where the old Raven Tail guild was. He felt a pang as he looked at it. He missed his old guild. After this was done, he hoped that he and his family could rebuild the place. They could even become a normal legal guild.

He watched as the King went over the plans and that wasn't the only thing that was going through his head. He had never forgiven the man that had taken so much from him and Ivan and he never would. Raven Tail would never be a normal guild. He would see to the King's death once this was over.

Ivan took his hand. His lover had read his mind years ago. They both knew that their chance was getting closer. They would have their revenge. Not just for the pain of all of those years but now against Cetus as well. They would both pay. The world would be brought to its knees. He would see to that. Then the world could start over. It was the only way.

* * *

Xenia sighed. She had agreed to go out for a walk that night. Even if she didn't want to. Gunner insisted. He said that it would be fun. She wasn't so sure about it, but figured it would be better than staying at the guild and being stared at.

She still wasn't sure of her feeling either. Gunner was just some guy. He was the son of Warner and Carma Brass. He was a member of the Fiore Army's special forces. Any girl would be happy to be getting the kind of attention that he was giving her. But she wasn't sure. Even as she let the guild with him, she was still questioning herself. Was this what she wanted?

Her mind flashed to Ziph. She shook her head. There was no way that she wanted that half demon. He was a monster. He had proved it more than once.

But then there was the way that he kissed her. She had given into him so easily. Could it be that she really liked him? Again she shook her head. It was probably because it was her first kiss. If she kissed someone else, she would probably react the same.

"Xenia?" She jumped as she turned to look at Gunner. He had a puzzled look on her face.

"What?" She knew that she wasn't paying attention to him, which wasn't fair.

He sighed. "I was going to tell you that we're here." She looked around and found that they were in the middle of an open field. She knew this place. Her Grandpa would take her here to train when she was younger. "I know it's not much, but I figured that you would want out of the guild."

She nodded. "I'm just tired of buildings."

"I can see that. Was it really that bad growing up in the council building?" He asked as he motioned for her to sit down.

She sat on the ground and sighed. "It wouldn't have been that bad if I wasn't alone all of the time. Grandpa and Papaw were always off working and I barely got to train after I left with them." He seemed ready to ask something, but she stopped him. "I left here because I wanted to train to use my magic, my mother didn't want me to be taken like my father was." She shook her head. "I could never tell anyone that I wasn't my father. That I wasn't going to fall for the same tricks that he did. But then I discovered that they were right. I did fall for those tricks. A demon came for me as well, only this one wanted something else. He wanted my body, but it wasn't the same way that Cetus wanted my father. He kept going on and on about me being his bride." She looked over at Gunner. "Can you really believe that? He came all of this way to make me his bride and he seriously thought I would agree to that."

Gunner laughed. "I would say something, but even for a demon, I think you would be a lot to handle."

She gave him a smile. "I can't be that bad, can I?"

He shook his head. "No, but you're stubborn."

"You don't say?" She giggled. "Tell me something new."

He blushed. "Well, you have warmest smile I have ever seen." She felt herself go red and looked up. She needed a distraction. The stars were out and blanketed the sky. "The stars are always pretty out here. You can never see anything in the city." He started.

She looked down to find him very close to her. His eyes were looking upward though. She questioned her next move. What was the best thing to do? She was tired of waiting. She needed an answer. She touched his arm and allowed her eyes to change as she looked up at the sky. He gasped as he looked up at the change in the sky. It had filled with light.

"That's amazing." He said, dumbfounded.

She giggled. She had never heard the reaction to the night sky before. But she had something else on her mind. She turned off her eyes and found herself looking in his. "Gunner…"

She watched as he leaned in closer. Her heart raced and she leaned towards him. His lips brushed against hers and she lost it, she wanted him closer. His body was warm as he moved his lips against hers. She kissed him back as her heartbeat drummed in her chest.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She heard a snarl behind her and pulled away from Gunner, only to find Ziph standing across from them in the field. He looked like an animal. She suddenly feared for Gunner's life. "Well, I'm waiting."

To Be Continued…


	38. Chapter 38

Xenia didn't know what to do. She was frozen as she stared at Ziph. How long had he been standing there?

He circled the two of them. She didn't realize that she was holding onto Gunner, which only seemed to make Ziph angrier. "Tell me, just want do you think you were doing with him?" His voice was thick and she could hear the venom in it.

"You don't get to control what she does!" Gunner snapped.

Ziph only chuckled and smirked. "How am I the one that's trying to control her? Your kind were the ones that have locked her away."

Gunner glared at him. "That was to protect her from monsters like you."

Ziph's smirk grew. "So I'm a monster, huh?" He continued to circle them like a crazed animal. "Then why don't you come after me? Be the white knight that saves that damsel in distress. That's what you want, isn't it?"

She could tell that Ziph was just egging on Gunner and it seemed to be working. She watched as Gunner made to move for the one of the guns that was strapped to his side. "No, Gunner. That's what he wants."

Ziph frowned at her words and she knew that something was up. "Quiet you!"

Gunner looked back at her. "What are we supposed to do? We can't just stand here. We have to do something!"

She felt her eyes start to tear up. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Gunner looked furious. "You think that I can't take him."

She shook her head violently. "No, I just know what he's capable of."

Ziph glared at her. "That's enough from you. Why don't you go and be a good little bride and shut your mouth?"

She made to argue, but found that no sound was coming from her mouth. As she looked over at him, she could see that his eyes were glowing. "What did you do to her?!" Gunner yelled.

Ziph grinned. "I'm just showing her, her place. Just like I'll be showing you yours." With that Ziph's eyes changed color, this time they were a blood red.

Her mind flashed back to a conversation that she had with her Grandfather. Those eyes were the eyes of a killer. Gunner's parents had those eyes. Miss Arma had those eyes. Her uncle Vik had those eyes. Her father had those eyes.

She ran forward and in front of Gunner, she couldn't let Ziph do this. Just as Ziph was about to unleash his power, she felt a strange feeling go down her spine.

Ziph stared at her in shock. "Where did you…"

She felt confused. Why did he suddenly look impressed with her? She didn't like it.

He chuckled. "I see." He turned his back. "When the time comes, you'll come to me."

"What are you talking about?" She asked, puzzled by his words.

He only laughed. "You're not my target right now anyway. I just wanted to check up on you. That's all. Excuse me." With that he disappeared from sight.

Now she only had more questions. What was he even looking for? And why did if fill her with dread?

"We need to report this." Gunner said, looking at her. Unlike Ziph, he didn't look fearful of her. Whatever it was, must have passed. That or Gunner didn't notice.

She nodded. "Come on, my Uncle will want to know everything." She said, grabbing onto Gunner's shoulder. Her eyes changed yellow and she found herself in the guild.

"Xenia? I didn't expect you to be back this early." Her mother said.

Everyone at the guild was staring at them, but she paid them no mind. She only wanted to talk with Laxus and Makarov.

Both guild masters looked at her in confusion. "Something has happened, hasn't it?" Makarov said.

She nodded, just as a messenger walked through the door of the Fairy Tail guild.

* * *

Vik sighed as he looked at everyone. Every plan they made looked like it would spell disaster for them. He had no idea what they were going to do. He knew Cetus better than anyone, but he still had no idea how to defeat him.

'You know that answer, you're just running form it. You're afraid.' Vik tensed up as he heard 55 speak within him. It had been a long time since he had heard that voice. 'The answer is within you. Why don't you have them tell you?'

'I can't.' He thought back to that part of himself. 'Sure I want answers, but now is not the time for that.'

The voice chuckled. 'Now it better than never. After all, you may find the answer you need.'

He didn't want to agree with 55. That side of him was a sick monster. He didn't care if he was considered a hero in his time. He was still a monster.

'You would be a monster too, if your father was like mine.' He paused as 55 continued. 55 had never talked of his father before.

'What about him?' He questioned. He knew that he was being rude to the rest of the meeting, but he couldn't help it. 55 may finally be giving him some answers and he wasn't going to let that go.

'He was a real savage. Hell, if he had left her alone, I would have never gone after him. But no. He was just so obsessed with bringing my mother back.'

'How did your mother die?' He asked. He hoped he wasn't being too rude, 55 may stop talking then.

'You're not being rude.' Vik sighed in relief as 55 continued. 'She died when I was still a baby. I don't remember much about her. My father cursed me because I looked nothing like her. I looked too much like him. I do know that someone had her killed. I just don't know who. It hurt my father more than he could bare. It didn't take long for him to become a monster. As I grew up, I knew what he was. We weren't the same. The love he had for me vanished as time went on. Even if I was my mother's child, I wasn't the same as her. I wasn't my mother; therefore, I wasn't good enough.' Vik had to agree that 55's father had to be a horrible man, but it could have been worse. He had seen worse. 'Then there was the fact that he never aged. He just stayed the same age forever, while I got older. He tried to convince me that I needed to become a monster like he was, but I refused.'

'Wait, was your father a demon?' He didn't want it to be true. What were the odds? But knowing his luck, it had to be the case. Was 55 really the son of Cetus? And if he was, would he know how to defeat him?

'I think you already know the answer, Viktor.' 55 laughed. 'My father's name was Cepheus, but he later became Cetus.'

'How did you get rid of him?' He couldn't help but ask.

'You will see with time. Soon, you will have your answer.' 55 said back.

He sighed, which caused everyone in the room to look at him. "Vik, do you have something to say?" The King said, looking very annoyed.

Vik glared at him. "What do you know about 55?"

The King was taken aback by his question. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I know that he's in me. So spill. How did he bring down Cetus before?" Vik said.

Everyone turned back to the King. They seemed to want to know this as well. The King sighed. "I didn't want to do this yet."

"Do what?" Remy asked, looking at the King suspiciously.

Half of the room looked like they were intrigued, the other half looked worried. Vik on the other hand, didn't know what to feel. He just wanted answers.

The King looked worried, but also sad at the same side. "I'm sorry, Perseus."

In that second, everything came forward. His head started spinning as he felt 55 start to laugh in the back of his mind. 'I wondered when this would happen.'

"When what would happen?" He asked, almost terrified.

'It's not going to hurt. We're just going to merge.' 55 said calmly.

He grabbed onto his forehead. It felt like he was being ripped open and then sewn to back together, only he wasn't being sewn to himself. 55 was being molded into him. Images of the past flashed before his eyes. They almost knocked the wind out of him. He took a deep breath as he looked over the table. All of the faces looked different, but the same. He looked down at his hands and slid them over the table. It felt different.

"Vik, are you okay?" His father asked, looking worried.

Part of him told him that Remy wasn't his father, but he knew that was true. Cetus wasn't his father.

 _His mind flashed back to an underground cave. He was looking down into a pool of water. "Do you think it will hold him?" A woman said to his side._

" _Trust me, as long as someone doesn't give him a new body. Everything will be fine." Perseus said._

 _The girl put her hand on his shoulder. "I know it's hard."_

 _He looked at her and found himself freezing as he looked at her. Her face was beautiful, but it was a face that he already knew. A face that he hadn't been able to stay away from since he returned. He made to say Arma's name, but that wasn't what came out. "_ Andromeda."

The room came into focus around him and that scene disappeared. Arma was looking at him, but even as he said that name, her eyes changed. When he said that name. He could see her reliving that same moment and felt relieved. He wasn't alone in this. "Perseus, we need to go back." Arma said, clearly understanding what he did.

"What is going on?" Warner asked, looking very confused.

The King cleared his throat. "Both Arma and Vik have combined with the soul that was left in them. They now understand why they were made."

He really wasn't paying attention to the man. All he could think about was the tragedy that was his father. How far would Cepheus fall in his pursuit of power? Would his mother ever rest in peace? At this point, he didn't know.

He stood up and looking at Arma. "We have a place to be, excuse us."

Everyone stood up, they seemed to be wondering why he felt that they needed to leave. Arma had already stood from her place. "You'll all understand later."

He turned to Viktor's father, he shook his head. This was his father. Not Cetus. "Take us to the old Raven Tail guild."

Remy looked very confused but nodded.

"Wait a minute! Aren't you going to explain yourselves?!" Corwall said angrily.

He almost growled at the man. "There is no time. If you want me to stop Cetus, you're going to have to trust me with this. Now come, Arma."

She nodded went to his side and he grabbed onto his father's shoulder. With that they disappeared.

They reappeared in the old guild hall. He almost smiled as he looked up at the walls. He had forgot that Bickslow was rebuilding it.

Remy didn't seem to know that at all and was staring at the walls in awe. "How is this possible?"

"Bickslow was rebuilding it. He brought me to here to train before Cetus took over." He said, walking towards the lake. He wanted to look it over. He hoped that it would be good enough to work again.

"What? He never said anything about that." Remy said, sounding very confused.

"He wanted us to use it as a training ground. He believed that we could come back here one day." He said, leaning down and looking over the water in the lake. It was dark, which was different from what he remembered. He put his hand down into the water and saw that it was almost like a shadow over his fingers. It was almost as if the water had been infected by the darkness. Had Cetus done that when he left? How had he not noticed it before? Hell, how did Bickslow not notice it. Did Cetus blind him to it?

"Vik." He looked over at Arma and watched as she reached into a different part of the lake and pulled out an amulet. He remembered the pendent. He had found it in an old box all of those years ago.

He gave Arma a smile. She had found just want they needed.

* * *

Cetus left his dark palace with his jar in hand. He looked over the empty streets with a crazy smirk on his face. They were all gone. Every single one of his betrayers. All of those common folk were gone. The land had finally been purged of non-magic users.

He looked to his side at one unfortunate corpse. What was once Rosa, was now laying on the ground. He thought that death looked good on her.

He knew that Viktor would betray him one day. He wasn't stupid. He knew what Fiore was planning.

At first, he didn't want to believe it. He knew that Perseus had a grudge against him, but he didn't think that his son would go so far.

He did have to commend the boy on his efforts. He chuckled darkly. If Perseus was back, then so was Andromeda. He growled at that name. That woman, she had ruined everything. From the moment she appeared, he had lost his son forever.

He chuckled darkly to himself. This meant that he did have another chance to kill her.

He sighed. If only Perseus had stayed. They could have worked out their problems. He had been fine with Rosa until the woman showed her true colors. She had tried to kill Flare before Bickslow had succeeded. It did give Viktor and Lily a chance to escape though, so he had to give her credit for that.

He walked through the house that had belonged to Vik and smiled down. "You know, you could have been great, Perseus."

'He already is great and his name is Viktor.' Bickslow screamed at him in the back of his mind.

He shook his head. "My son's name was Perseus, that was until you all corrupted him."

Bickslow laughed. 'You think that he betrayed you? You're a menace to society. Hell, can you even remember why you did all of this?'

"I did it for power, you idiot." He called out into the darkness.

'What about Cassiopeia? I thought this was for her, or did you never really love her?' Bickslow questioned.

He froze as he heard her name. He had gotten used to being with Flare. Flare was Cassiopeia. He knew that…wasn't she? He looked down and found the jar with Flare's soul on the ground. When had be put it down?

'Just come clean, Cetus. The man that once loved, can't love anymore. You're a monster. A man without a soul or even a meaning. That's why you killed them. You can't feel anything. You just think that you can. If you can cause pain to others, then maybe, just maybe you'll be able to feel something.'

"SHUT UP!" He yelled into the darkness.

Bickslow chuckled. 'He's going to come for you and then it will be too late. You won't survive this time, Cetus. Just because you don't have a soul, that doesn't mean that you can't die.'

"I'm immortal, you imbecile." He shouted.

"Really? Then why are you afraid?" He had to cover his mouth. How had Bickslow been able to control his lips? Was he really starting to lose this fight?

He growled. "We'll see about that." He sped out of the house and looked at the tower of corpses. He began to work his magic, forcing more than one to their feet. Their eyes glowed a dark green color. "The Fiore will witness this and they will fall. The time for talk is over. The time for destruction has begun."

With that the bodies moved forward, some like perfect soldiers and others stumbled like the zombies that they were. He chuckled darkly to himself. Fiore wouldn't know what hit them. The war had just begun.

To Be Continued…


	39. Chapter 39

Laxus and the rest of Fairy Tail couldn't believe the news. This was really happening. Ivan had sent the news that the shield between the two countries had opened up. Cetus's Miresa was open to attack. Laxus couldn't believe it. Something had to be up.

Xenia looked up at her uncle. "So that's what Ziph meant when he said that he had a different mission. Cetus must have him scouting Fiore for any sign of weakness."

Laxus didn't know if the girl was right, but there had to be a good reason for all of this to be happening. They all knew that Cetus was preparing for a war. They just didn't know when he would strike. It seemed that now was the time. "Let us all head towards the council. We need to get as much information as we can." His father hadn't sent much. It must have been the only way that Ivan could get anything out of the council right now. All eyes and ears had to be on Miresa.

Laxus turned and looked down at his grandfather. "We need to inform the rest of the guilds in our alliance."

Makarov gave him an old smile. "I'll get that; you get to the council. We have to time to wait."

Laxus nodded as the rest of the guild began to move towards the door. Xenia cleared her throat. "I can get us there in no time."

Laxus now felt a little at ease. They didn't have to worry about a long train ride and discover that it was all just a false alarm. "Gather around. We will teleport there in a matter of seconds. I want Mira, Laki, and a couple of volunteers to stay here with Gramps." Some members of the guild made to stay behind without issue. With that Xenia's eyes changed and they disappeared, landing right outside of the council building.

Everyone seemed ready to head for the opening, but Laxus held them back. "We can't just go rushing in there. Gunner, tell them that we have arrived."

Gunner gave him a nod then started to make his way into the council building.

As soon as Gunner was in the building, the ground began to shake. That was odd, an Earthquake hadn't happened here in ages. Why now?

But as Laxus looked up at the sky, he found that he couldn't see anything. The sky was completely black, to the point that it was covering the stars. Laxus felt a little sick to his stomach. Cetus was already here.

Ivan came running out of the council building. And looked up. "Shit!" His father's eyes rested on him for a second. "Come and take cover. We don't know when the wave is going to come. This is only a warning."

Behind him in the group of people were Kitt and Edvin. They had only come to see Vik. They were a little happy to see Ivan, even if the situation was grim.

As the guild made their way inside of the council building, the grounds stopped its shaking and they were greeted by faces young and old. "Who are all of these people?" Kitt couldn't help but ask.

"We have no time for introductions." Corwall snapped. "I say we use an ethrion blast and destroy Miresa for good."

"He has a point. There are no survivors from what we know about." Arlinton said.

"But Vik and Lily came out of there. There is still a chance that there are innocent people running around." Carolta answered back.

"We can't risk Fiore on a maybe." Corwall argued.

"And your Ethrion blast worked so well the last time that you used it." Ivan argued. "If it wasn't for that, we wouldn't even be in this position right now."

"It would have if you Ravens had just stayed still." Corwall interjected.

Laxus felt angry. "So you expected them to stay put and die? That idiotic."

Corwall glared at him. "Who asked you?"

"Laxus is the guild master of Fairy Tail and my son, I will not have you disrespecting him." Ivan had gotten into Corwall's face.

Corwall turned green. "How many children did you and that other guy make?"

"I only have 2 with Remy. Laxus was from my previous marriage. And Remy and I didn't make any of our kids. You're king did that." Ivan snapped.

Corwall still looked disgusted. "To think that some lineages have fallen so low."

Nobody had any idea of what Corwall was talking about, but that didn't mean that Ivan was going to let him off with that remark. Ivan gave the old man a punch in the gut. He didn't care how old the man was. He had just insulted his family.

Corwall laughed from the floor. "I knew that I shouldn't have touched her. But a bet was a bet."

"Just shut up, you old coot. No one wants to hear your blathering." Warner said. "Can we just get back to business then?"

The King nodded. "Right. We need to come up with a plan. There has to be some way to hold off Cetus's army."

The room filled again as Remy, Vik, and Arma returned. Kitt and Edvin couldn't believe their eyes as they looked at him. He looked so different. Where once there was a bright, confident man, there was a dark, twisted looking one. They could tell that he had been through a lot.

Vik didn't even notice them though. He was on a mission and he needed to find out if what he had found was still viable. "Can we have this pendent checked?"

"Why do we need to waste our time with a pendent? We have a war to focus on." Corwall said angrily. Many others were confused, but he didn't say anything. The comment seemed so random. Even Remy looked confused. Vik hadn't explained any of this to his father.

Arma took the pendent from Vik. "We need the magical properties of this looked at."

Vik nodded. "A long time ago, the mother of Perseus gave his to her Cetus, back when his name was Cepheus. It was deemed to be a holy object after her death so Cetus couldn't touch something from the woman he loved." Everyone was still staring at him, wondering when he was going to get to the point. "That is because the hag that met Cepheus all of those years, stored was left of his soul into his pendent. Everything that made him human is stored in here, but that is not all."

Arma gave him a smile. "It was not the non-magic folk of Miresa that killed Cassiopeia. It was the hag that started all of his in the first place."

Everyone was looking at the two of them as if they were speaking a foreign language. Vik nodded at Arma. "Exactly. The hag wanted all of this to happen, but to this day, I have no idea why. She planned for Cetus to do all of his, but there has never been a reason given. She couldn't have done it all for shits and giggles."

"So Perseus has no more answers for us." The King said.

"There are still bits and pieces of things I don't understand. I know that Perseus sealed Cetus in the underground lake and I know that he used this to make the seal. The question is how was the seal really broken. I doubt that Bickslow could have just broken it at will. Either Cetus was working on it for thousands of years or someone else was trying to set him free." Vik stated.

"What about the hag?" Laxus asked. Everyone wondered how he had to be getting this. For the rest of them it was all a jumble of words and names.

"That's a good question. For all we know, she could have been around just to mess with Cetus, she did create him after all." Arma said.

"The thing is if Cetus can be placed in this pendent, then it will remove him from the body he is in. That's what happened last time." Vik stated.

Ivan and Remy froze. Did that mean that they could hope again? That Bickslow would be returned to them again?

Vik seemed to noticed. "I don't know what the effects are though. The process could end up killing Bickslow."

Xenia, who had been sitting off to the side, heard those words. She knew what would happen if her father died. Her mother would also die. Not only that, she knew that his death would kill her grandparents, especially Grandpa Remy. They may have just gotten one of their children back, but that didn't mean that another blow wouldn't crush them. Xenia stood up, she needed time to think.

Vik stared at the King. "If this object still has Cetus's human soul in it, we can find a way to remove it and maybe we can kill him that way. There wasn't the technology back then for it, so Cetus had to be sealed away. If we are able to use your soul tech, we may be able to extract it. If it is still in there."

"There is still a chance that his soul escaped a long time ago and has now been reincarnated. If that is the case, then we will need to find where it went." The King stated.

"Then what do we do then? We can't just kill an innocent person." Ivan said.

"We may not have a choice." Vik answered.

* * *

Xenia ran outside and under the tree out front. She wasn't even thinking about it. She just needed to be alone.

"I thought you wanted to be with that boy." She tensed up as Ziph stood behind her.

She glared at him. "I thought you had a mission from your father!"

He smirked at her. "I do, but I can't find what he wants."

She looked at him in confusion. "He wants something?"

"He's looking for a woman." Ziph said with a sly smile. "Do you know who he could be looking for?"

She wondered if he could be looking for her mother for a second, then remembered that Cetus wanted nothing to do with her mother. Had Ziph talked to her father? "What do you mean?"

"He said that he needed her now. I just don't understand what he was looking for. He even made the mistake of thinking I was a girl." Ziph said, giving her a bewildered look.

She couldn't believe it. Could it be true? Could her father be asking for them? Did he push past Cetus? "Did he say anything about someone named Lisanna?"

Ziph smirked. "You're so easy, Xenia. I could have told you that the moon was falling from the sky and you would believe me."

Xenia felt her eyes start to tear up. "You are the worst, you know that! Do what it's like to have your family ripped apart! Oh wait a minute, you don't know!"

Ziph glared at her. "You know nothing."

"Oh, I don't know anything. Says the boy that runs around like he owns everything. You don't even know what hardship is." Xenia snapped at him.

Ziph growled then pinned her to the tree. "That's right, you know nothing about me. You didn't have to grow up and have to deal with your father's impossible expectations."

Even though she was stuck against the tree, she didn't let up. "At least you have a father. Mine was stolen from me by yours."

"At least you still have a mom." Ziph snapped.

She suddenly froze up. "You lost your mother."

He nodded. "She's dead."

"I'm sorry."

Ziph let go of her. "I don't need your sympathy."

She walked over to him, but he seemed to move away. "Then why did you bring her up?"

Ziph looked at her. "Because you said I haven't had any hardship. Father believes that she will come back."

"Come back?" Xenia said in confusion.

"From what he said, her soul came back to him after a thousand years. At least that's what he thinks." Ziph said.

Xenia pondered what Ziph was talking saying. "Is he talking about Cassiopeia?"

Ziph turned to look at her in shock. "My father would occasionally call my mother that."

"Do you think that she really isn't Cassiopeia then?" Xenia wondered if that was the case. If that was true, then Cetus wouldn't be a happy camper.

"Who knows. I try not to think about that." Ziph said.

She put her hand on his shoulder. She knew that she needed to get away from him, but she couldn't get herself to move away. "Why?"

He looked down at her. "Because then I wouldn't be the prince of Miresa. Not that that matters anyway. I will never rule."

"Why wouldn't you be the ruler?" She asked.

He gave her a look. "Xenia, my dad is immortal. He's not going to just roll over and die."

She almost laughed. "I know, but that doesn't mean that he will be in power forever."

"But I don't want him to die." Ziph said.

She gave him a sad smile. "But that is the natural order of things. Everything lives and everything dies."

"Not went you're a demon." Ziph smirked.

She frowned. "And I thought we were finally getting along."

Ziph continued to smirk at her, but then without warning his eyes flashed yellow and they were in a place that she had never seen before.

"Where did you take me?!" She snapped at him.

"I just wanted to show you something. Trust me, you'll like it." Ziph said taking her hand.

She pondered what he had up his sleeve, but let herself be led away. "Just tell me where we are."

"This is the coast of Miresa." Ziph said.

She almost froze. He had brought her to his home. This wasn't safe. "What if your father catches us?"

"Don't worry about it. He's far too distracted." Ziph laughed.

They got to some strange lookout and began climbing up. She wondered how old this thing was. It had to be ancient. But there was another strange feeling. It was like she had been here before. Only it was a long time ago.

Once they reached the top, he gave her a smile and led her to the ledge. "See what I mean."

She couldn't help but smile. It truly was beautiful. She looked up at the sky and froze, why did this scenario feel so familiar? "I don't know why, but I feel like I've been here before."

Ziph gave her a confused look. "Really? I don't think that your parents would have brought you here as a baby."

She giggled. "No, I don't think that's it."

Ziph gave her a smile and it was strange. It was almost as if she was looking at someone else, but at the same time, it was the same person. "Then what is it?"

Xenia didn't know what she was doing as she began to lean into him. Ziph leaned down into her and their lips met in the middle. His kiss was more intense this time and her lips were frantic. Something about it was so gratifying. Xenia knew that this was wrong, but she couldn't stop herself. She knew what she wanted, even if this was the enemy.

Gunner wouldn't like this, but she had never pledged herself to him. They were just friends that happened to kiss and while it felt good. It paled in comparison to the kiss she was getting now.

As Ziph's lips freed themselves from her own, she let out a whimper of loss. "Stay with me."

She wanted to shake her head. She wanted to say no desperately, but at the same time she didn't want to leave his side. "I don't know."

He gave her another kiss. "Just for now, you can go back to Fiore in the morning." He teleported her to what looked like bed room in the palace.

She didn't know what to think. "But what about your father? If I'm discovered…"

"He's not here. We are all alone." Ziph said into her ear.

Xenia felt nervous for a second before sitting down on the side of the bed. "We can't do this Ziph." Again, everything felt familiar even if the room was different.

"We don't have to do anything. I just don't want to be alone right now." He slid up on the bed and made to lay on his side.

She didn't know why but she ended up moving so she was next to him. His hand reached out and he began to touch the side of his face. Her mind felt like it was starting to fog up as she looked at him. "Cepheus."

"Cassiopeia." He said leaning into her and kissing her again.

Her mind was so foggy as she felt his hands on her, but soon she was doing the same thing. She couldn't stop herself. Even after the fog had disappeared, she still wanted more.

Ziph stopped what he was doing. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." His voice was at a whisper.

"I…" She was looking into his eyes. "Ziph…" She leaned forward and kissed him again. "Please…" He read her expression and seemed at odds with himself, he looked like he was going to argue, but she stopped him. After that moment, she felt almost complete. "I need you."

With that he leaned in and kissed her again, before rolling on top of her. "Are you sure?"

She grabbed the sides of his face and looked up at him. "Yes."

To Be Continued…


	40. Chapter 40

Vik paced as he they waited on the results. That amulet had to still have Cetus's soul in it. It just had to. If it wasn't, they were in for one hell of a search and he didn't even know where to look.

But it had to be somewhere. And who was the old hag? He didn't like this at all. He wanted answers, but Perseus wasn't giving him any.

Next to him, Arma sighed. "I don't know if we're right."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"The chance of his soul still being in that amulet is low. The seal had to have weakened the moment it was released." She said.

"But that leaves us back at square one." He said in defeat.

She gave him a sad smile. "It doesn't mean that we have to give up. Personally, I think it's a little strange that he just happened to come back at this time."

"Do you think that the soul might be attached to a person that we already know?" Vik asked, not noticing that two people were walking down towards them.

"It's possible. Everything up till now has been a coincidence after another coincidence. I mean, what are the chances that you were Perseus?" Arma said leaning back against the wall.

Vik looked up. "I don't know. I just wish I knew who that hag was. It would really save us some trouble if she was locked away."

"You can say that again." Arma joked. "So about Perseus and Minerva…?"

Vik only continued to look up at the ceiling. "I don't know. Remember, I'm still gay."

She giggled. "You weren't saying that a couple of days ago when we were…"

Vik sighed. "I know. Actually, I don't know. All of this is just confusing. I don't know up from down anymore. Hell, I don't even know who I am anymore."

Arma sighed. "I know what you mean. I thought I knew everything, but now…I'm not so sure. I just want to know where this leaves us."

Vik looked back at the floor. "I don't want to disappoint anyone. I know that you're still getting over Rosa and…"

She stopped him with a kiss and then backed away quickly. "I…I'm sorry…"

With that she ran off and he groaned. Why was all of this so complicated? He just wanted to return to his old life…at least that's what he was telling himself. Why did he even sleep with Arma in the first place? They were like siblings.

His mind reminded him that he had slept with Rosa as well and he was punching himself for it. He loved his daughter. He really did. But he couldn't help but hate himself for his weakness. Really, why was he such a man whore? Over the years, be began to question if he was just gay. Was he Bi instead? That would explain why he had jumped into bed with Rosa and Arma so quickly.

His eyes looked up and he froze. Why were they here? He knew that they were in that room, but he had kept his distance. Why did Kitt and Edvin think they needed to near him? Probably because they were supposed to be in a relationship. He had loved them back then, but so much time had weathered him. He wasn't even sure who they really were anymore. Besides, the two of them should hate him.

"How have you been?" Kitt asked, he looked a lot older. He already had some grey hair sticking out behind his ears.

Vik only nodded. He really didn't know how to answer Kitt. The last 15 years had not been kind to him. "How about we start with you."

Edvin sighed. "I told you that he was going to block us out."

"It's still worth a try." Kitt argued back.

Vik stared at the two of them. They argued like an old married couple. Because that's what they were. A couple. They weren't a threesome anymore. "I see that you two are happy."

They both stared at him like he was insane. "What are you talking about?" Kitt asked.

Vik half smiled. "I understand. I wasn't around, so you two just became attached to each other. There's no hard feelings." He made to walk away. He needed to talk to Arma.

"Hey, we're not done here." Edvin said after him.

"Why?" He looked back at them to find them staring at him in horror. "The two of you are clearly happy. Why would I ruin that?"

"We're not happy without you, you idiot!" Kitt snapped at him.

Vik stared at them. "The two of you already know what I have done. Don't you?"

"Cetus made you do those things." Edvin said. "There was nothing you could do."

Vik sighed. "I…" He looked away from them. "I still did them. I was the one that killed Kitt's parents." Kitt froze in place and Edvin grabbed his hand. "I killed so many people that I really don't know how to really function anymore."

"We can help you…" Edvin made to move forward, but Kitt held him in place. Vik could tell that Kitt was trying to get over the news, but Vik couldn't let him do that. He no longer deserved them.

"All I want is my daughter." He turned his back on them and started to walk away.

"Tell me, did you love her?" Kitt asked.

Vik looked back. "Love who?"

"The girl's mother. Did you love her?" Kitt was looking at him in anger and Vik made to smile.

"Yes. Yes, I did." And with that he walked away from the two of them. They didn't need to know anything more than that. All they needed to know was that he had done those horrible things. He had Lily to worry about now. He didn't need to be running around looking for a new love life, even if it was an old one.

"I didn't expect to see you." Arma said, looking him over.

He didn't know what to say as he collapsed into her arms and darkness came over him. This was the fate he chose and he would stick with it.

* * *

Crashes could be heard outside as the danger approached. The demon known as Cetus was starting to build his army and they were getting closer.

Remy had gone outside and had tried to set up a shield, but Cetus's power was just stronger. He just had the edge of thousands of years on Remy.

Remy cursed as Ivan came out to greet him. "So it looks like we have to fight the old fashioned way." Ivan said.

Remy looked at his lover. "I don't know. If only I could find a way to push him back."

"If anyone can figure it out. I will be you." Ivan reassured him.

He was about to say something when Corwall walked out of the building. The man only glared at him. "What do you want?"

Corwall just continued to glare at him. "Nothing."

"Then why do you keep trying to follow me?" Remy growled and turned back to Ivan. "Do you think his power is really unlimited?"

"There's no way of knowing. He did keep that shield up for a long time." Ivan answered.

"So you're going to ignore me then?" Corwall said.

The two of them glared at the old man. He really had been doing nothing but bothering them for days. "Can you just go somewhere else old man. We're kind of busy." Ivan said.

"Busy? The two of you just want to play kissy face again." Corwall said turning green.

"And what of it?" Remy said crossing his arms and glaring darkly at the general.

Corwall glared back. "I shouldn't have done it. My father is probably rolling in his grave."

Remy stared at the man in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Corwall couldn't take it anymore. "Your mother's name was Anastasia, wasn't it?"

Remy looked at the man in shock. "How do you know that?"

Corwall looked away. "I knew it." The old man made to walk away.

"Hey, come back here you bastard and answer me!" Remy said, going after the old man.

Ivan just rolled his eyes. He had other work to do. "I'll go and set up the army. You go after that sack of dung."

Remy nodded to his lover and was off. Corwall wasn't far from where they were. The old man was just breathing heavily as he rubbed his forehead against a nearby tree.

"Now tell me, how do you know my mother?" Remy asked.

Corwall didn't look at him. He just stared at the tree. "It was a long time ago. We met when we were teenagers."

"So?" Remy had no idea where this was going.

"She was a nice enough girl. Too nice. Too naïve for her own good." Corwall said.

"What about it?" Remy just didn't know what this had to do with anything.

"We went out once. Then she disappeared. I heard about her death, 6 years later." Corwall said.

"6 years?" Remy said to himself. That was when he showed up at Fairy Tail. Remy felt his heart begin to beat out of his chest. "But I…" This couldn't be right. From the way Corwall was talking, it all made sense. But he had a father. His father died in a farming accident. "You can't be…"

Corwall looked up from the tree. "But you are." The man looked angry. "And this is what I got. I devoted my life to building this career, only to discover that I had a child out of wedlock. My poor wife, god rest her soul, was never able to have kids. So I thought my family line was done with me, but I was wrong." Corwall looked disgusted. "And now I discover that my only child is a faggot. Isn't that just my luck?"

Remy felt so confused. Why had his mother never told him this? He had memories of the man that he thought was his father and comparing the two, Norman was a better man than Corwall, but that couldn't be it. There had to be something else to this story. "So then why did she never say anything about you?"

Corwall flinched at that and Remy knew that something wasn't right. Something was starting to eat at him and he was starting to get a picture of what had really happened. "She was probably angry. I had a lot of girls going after me back then."

Remy sensed that there was a lie in there. "What did you do to her?"

Corwall looked up at him with a smirk. "So you already expect me to be the bad guy, when she was the one that didn't tell you anything."

"My mother had to have her reasons. If you weren't in the wrong, then she would have told me everything." He turned his back on Corwall. "I will respect her judgement. I already had a father and he died a long time ago."

"So she started bumping uglies with someone else then?" Corwall asked, only to get punched in the face seconds later.

"You have no right to talk about her that way!" Remy growled.

"I do when she left me in the dark." Corwall said. "She could have told me. Then at least you wouldn't have grown up liking men." Corwall spit in his face, but Remy kicked him in the shin, sending the man down to his knees.

Remy laughed. "You know, I'm glad that she didn't tell me about you. At least I know that my mother picked a better man in the end."

Corwall coughed up some blood. "So a farmer who died in an accident was better than a general."

Remy's eyes narrowed. "No, a man is better than a child." With that he stormed off to find Ivan. "Don't think for a second that we're family. I already have one, I don't need anymore."

* * *

Ivan sighed as he looked over his troops. "That's quite the number." Ivan turned to look down at his father. Makarov only gave him a smile.

"It took forever to train them. Remy and I had a busy schedule." Ivan looked away. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I was going. Everything just got thrown on me and I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."

Makarov chuckled as Laxus came out as well. "So now you understand why I was such a bad father." Makarov said.

Ivan sighed. "You weren't a bad father. I just sucked at listening. I was just stubborn."

"I thought that was a Dreyar thing." Laxus said, sitting down. "Maky is the same way."

Ivan looked between his son and his father. "I really do wish that I could have been around for you and Maky."

"You don't have to apologize. Stuff happens. Just look at Bickslow." Laxus said.

Ivan sighed. "I just wish there was a way I could talk to him again."

'So you're really going to stand around and talk about me like I'm chopped liver.' Ivan froze and looked around, confusing Makarov and Laxus.

"Is Remy trying to tell you something?" His father asked.

Ivan held his hand up. "Say something else."

Both of them stared at him in confusion. "What are you…?" Laxus started.

"Not you two!" Ivan looked around hoping that voice popped into his head again.

'You know this place is pretty boring.' This time Makarov and Laxus froze. Ivan realized that they could hear it as well. 'I swear when I get out of here, that bastard is going to pay for locking me up in that jello. It's still in my ears.'

"Bickslow." Ivan said.

'You know, I could really go for a long ass bath after this shit. I know I just seriously pissed off that asshole, but come on. He deserved it.' Bickslow said. He must have not realized that they could hear him.

"Bickslow? What did you do?" Ivan pondered.

'I mean Flare was going to die anyway. I just helped her along. He's taken enough from me. I figured that he needed something taken from him.'

Ivan froze. Flare was dead. Bickslow killed her. And he didn't sound like he regretted any of it. "Bickslow are you okay?"

Bickslow didn't answer. His middle son had to be doing something else. Ivan sighed. At least now he knew that Bickslow was really alive in there. The question was, would he be able to function after this? There was only one way to find out.

To Be Continued…


	41. Chapter 41

Ivan still couldn't believe it. Bickslow had just sent a message out to him without meaning to. From the sound of it, Cetus was pissed and Bickslow was the one that caused it. Bickslow had killed Flare, which made Cetus's growing assault make more sense. Cetus wanted revenge for Bickslow's actions. "You know, now was not the time to get all pissy." Ivan said, to nothing. Bickslow was already gone.

Laxus shook his head. "So what are we going to do now? We can't just wait for them to come to us."

Makarov nodded at Laxus. "Laxus has a point. We need to move forward."

Ivan sighed. "There's a problem though. We have no idea what's even out there."

Makarov smirked. "You think that matters? Have you forgotten who you're working with?"

"Dad, I know that you are Fairy Tail, but that may not matter." Ivan started.

"We've faced plenty of enemies and didn't know exactly what we were facing." Makarov said. "And we always rise above it. Give the guilds a chance."

Ivan looked away from them. "We've already lost enough. Why give Cetus more lives to mess with? He will just use the dead as his soldiers."

"You really think that we will die that easily?" Laxus said. "If you think for a minute that we are going to be happy with standing around and doing nothing than you must be off your rocker."

Ivan sighed. "I'm not going to be able to stop you, am I?"

Makarov smiled. "You've got that right. The guild is already prepared to attack."

"When did you…?" Ivan began to ask.

"Before we met up with you, I sent a call back home. All of the guilds are gathering towards the border. We have to protect what his ours." Laxus said.

Ivan looked up at the sky. "You realize that you've sent them to their deaths then."

"How do you know that they are dead?" Makarov asked. "If anyone knows about seeing a body it would be you."

Ivan continued to stare up at the sky. "Remy and I will be leaving soon. We have to take the army towards the fighting."

Laxus froze at that. "But you're so certain that anyone that goes towards that thing will die."

Ivan sighed. "This happened because Remy and I wanted to bring Bickslow into Raven Tail. We got selfish. He looked happy in Fairy Tail, but we just wanted some time with him." Ivan found himself staring at one star. "And now look where it's gotten us?"

"You can't take the blame for everything." Makarov began.

"But he's going to. He always does." Remy said, coming around the corner.

"Where have you been?" Ivan asked. "Last I saw you, you were running after Corwall."

Remy rolled his eyes. "Can we not talk about that man."

Ivan wondered why Remy's voice caught on the word man, but decided that now was not the time for questions. "Are you ready to go then?"

Remy sighed. "Not yet. I still need to talk to Xenia before we leave. I wanted to make sure, she knew the route out of city."

"She's going to be fine." Ivan said. "Cetus and his forces aren't going to make their way towards the city."

"Says the man that was freaking out about it seconds ago." Remy said.

"Do you two have to act like a married couple right now?" Laxus stated.

"But we are a married couple." Ivan said.

"That's not my point." Laxus said. "We need to get going. This fight isn't going to be won by standing around."

"Laxus is right. We need to get going." Makarov stated.

Everyone nodded and without a word, grabbed onto Remy. Seconds later they were transported to the line. Blood coated the ground as a man began to pull himself towards them, his body was cut in half. "Get away from here…"

Laxus's eyes went wide as he stared at Ichiya of Blue Pegasus. He moved forward to try and help the mage, but his father stopped him. "There's nothing you can do. We have to move forward."

"But we can't just leave him." Laxus said.

"There are more people than him out there." Remy stated as he pulled back some brush.

Bodies coated the ground. Familiar faces were surrounding them. "I knew that we should have brought the army." Ivan stated.

"That is true, but this is personal." Remy said walking forward.

"Remy, we can still go back for them." Ivan said.

"What good would that be? They would all just end up dying like these poor souls did." Remy stated. "There's been enough blood shed today."

"That's where you're wrong." Ivan said. "You're forgetting about Cetus himself."

"We still need to get Bickslow out of him." Laxus said.

The ground was quiet around them as they moved forward. Darkness loomed over them and they came face to face with the zombified army.

"Get ready!" Makarov said.

Laughter broke through the air and they all looked up. Floating in the sky with a wild smirk on his face was Cetus. It was almost as if Bickslow's body hadn't even aged, but there were still signs. He was greying slightly, but that wasn't the only thing. Cetus's eyes looked very damaged, almost as if the body he was using was going blind. "Well, well, well, I didn't expect any of you to come this close. Seems like I was wrong."

Laxus stared at Cetus. His body felt cold as darkness came from Cetus's eyes. The bodies began to move forward and the battle had begun.

* * *

Xenia awoke and looked over at Ziph in shock. What had she been doing? Why did she stay here? Why did she allow Ziph to do those things to her? Why did she want him to do those things? She wasn't in love with the boy, so why was she drawn to him? At least, she didn't believe that she was in love with him.

She pulled herself out of bed and made to walk around. She was sure that she was dreaming. If felt as if someone else had been controlling her body. But it wasn't a bad feeling. It was like whoever was trying to control her, was trying to put her on the write path. She just didn't know what that path was.

"When did you get up?" Ziph asked.

Xenia jumped. "I don't know. I just needed to walk around." She said.

Ziph nodded. "Come back to bed, Cassie." Ziph said turning around onto his side.

Xenia froze. What had Ziph just called her? "Excuse me?" She said quietly.

"Cass, I'm trying to sleep." Ziph said.

Xenia was about to ask as images began to flash across her mind. Images from another time and place. Cepheus…Ziph used to be someone called Cepheus…and she was Cassiopeia. That meant that Flare wasn't the one that Cetus was looking for. She was.

But as she looked at Ziph or Cepheus, she couldn't help but feel unnerved. Wasn't Cepheus the person that Cetus used to be? That didn't make any sense.

Xenia left the room and walked down the hall. There had to be an answer for this.

The palace was in shambles. Everything looked like it was falling apart. What once was a beautiful place, looked like a dump. Could no one else see it? She looked out a nearby window and found that the air itself was filled with smoke, almost as if someone was trying to destroy the country itself.

"What good would that do?" Xenia jumped as a shadow from across the room spoke.

Xenia glared at it. "Who are you?" She couldn't help but feel a chill go down her spine as it moved closer and formed into what looked like an old hag.

"That doesn't matter." The hag said. "What matters is what you want."

"What I want?" Xenia asked.

The hag smiled. "I can see it. In your heart, you want something." The hag tried to move closer, but Xenia backed up. "Come on now, let me have a peek. What do you have to lose?"

"My sanity." Xenia snapped at that hag.

The hag only laughed. "Why would you say that? Is it because of Cepheus? I only gave him what he wanted."

"You made him into a monster!" Xenia shouted.

The hag laughed. "He already was a monster, at least in his mind."

Xenia stared at the hag. "What do you mean?"

The hag grinned. "Hatred. From the moment that Cepheus was born, he was filled with it. He hated his father and killed the man for his power. He hated the non-magic folk and had them tortured and killed for his amusement."

Xenia froze. "But he also knew how to love."

"You're speaking of Cassiopeia." The hag said. "Yes, it is true that he loved her, but that was it. Cepheus only had enough love in his soul for one person. The rest of the world didn't matter as long as he had that person. He would kill whatever and whoever he wanted with ease. A man like that doesn't deserve to be rewarded, don't you agree?"

"Then why did you make him immortal?" Xenia couldn't help but ask.

"It was a punishment really. He needed to see the rest of the world. I hoped that he would find beauty in it somewhere. That's why I freed him from his bindings all of those years ago." The hag sighed.

"But why would you free him? He already killed so many people, why did you think he would change?" Xenia asked.

The hag smiled. "The world had changed, child. People had grown tolerant of one another. I hoped that when those two mages showed up in that cave that Cetus could learn from them, sadly, he didn't."

"Two mages?" Xenia asked. "Are you talking about my grandparents?"

The hag smiled. "Once Remington and Ivan. I say they were quite the sight in their younger days. So feisty and full of life. When they decided to make their guild there, I saw a chance and removed the bindings."

"And the Cetus possessed my father." Xenia grimanced.

"No, the two mad a contract. Cetus just broke the contract when he betrayed your father. The demon met Miss Flare and she reminded him of the love he had lost. Not because of her personality, it was only her appearance. Sadly, Cetus began to forget what he had truly fallen in love with before." The hag shook her head. "When I saw this, I moved to remove his soul from the pendent that Perseus had used. I knew that the real Cepheus could try again, but alas, he that soul was reborn from that horrid union."

"And Ziph is that soul." Xenia said. "But if that's the case, won't Ziph have to die?"

The hag sadly nodded. "Yes, the boy has to die. There is no way around it. But he can't just be killed. There is only one way to break the spell and free your father from Cetus safely."

Xenia was all ears. "But that's not fair to Ziph. There has to be another way."

The hag shook her head. "No, Miss Cassiopeia, Cepheus must die. He must truly die for there to be any chance of Cetus's destruction."

"You're not going to tell me how he has to die, are you?" Xenia said.

The hag shook her head. "You still love him, Cassiopeia. You wish to see him live, but that cannot be. Your fates are forever shrouded in darkness. Your love is cursed."

"I was never meant to love him? Is that what you are saying?" Xenia asked.

The hag only smiled at her. "Don't think that what I have done is horrible. I only did what fate demanded of me."

"I do have a question? Why did you have to kill Cassiopeia? If she had lived, Cepheus wouldn't have become Cetus." Xenia asked.

The hag sighed. "No one would have challenged Cepheus's ideas back then. The way he was, was just like everyone else. The world just needed to see what extremism can do."

"So you used him? You destroyed him to prove a point?" Xenia said angrily.

"No, fate chose him. I just stepped in where it told him to." With that the hag then changed forms and a small black and grey butterfly and flew off. Leaving Xenia with more questions than answers.

"What are you doing out here?" Ziph asked, giving her a confused look. Xenia couldn't help it as she burst into tears and dove into his arms. She clung to him and he couldn't help but asked. "What's wrong?"

"Just say with me like this." Xenia said. She felt guilty. She didn't want him to leave her yet.

"What has gotten into you? You look white as a sheet." Ziph said, but was caught off guard when she kissed him.

"Don't leave me." She whispered.

Ziph looked confused. "Why would I do that?" His eyes looked sincere. How could someone so horrible really could from this? Her mind flashed back to his treatment of her cousin, but she pushed that aside. Ziph wasn't evil. He wasn't Cetus anymore.

She laughed through her tears. "I don't know. I just don't want you to go anywhere."

Ziph looked puzzled. "But what about the fighting? My father is going to return after he's destroyed Fiore."

Xenia only shook her head, as she tried to come up with a reason for him to say by her side, but she was coming up with nothing.

"We need to go. Your family is in danger." Ziph said.

Xenia could see it in his eyes now. The change the hag had spoken of was there. She only feared what he was going to do with it now.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Only 3 more chapters until the end.


	42. Chapter 42

The King of Fiore turned to his group of followers. He knew that the Dreyar's and Resus had left. It wasn't much of a surprise. They had soft hearts after all. He knew Ivan and Remy had no qualms with sending men to their deaths, but old man Makarov was a different story. The old man clung to his precious children and would never agree to putting innocent lives in danger. It was part of the reason that he disliked the man. Remy and Ivan understood what needed to be done and they didn't argue.

Arlinton rolled his eyes. "I thought we had a plan. What are those idiots thinking?"

Warner sighed. "They are far from idiots."

Arlinton glared at his son. "What do you know?"

Warner rolled his eyes. "Can you stop acting like a jealous pig? I swear all you do is complain."

The king wanted to laugh. The boy had a point. "Back off Arlinton, those two must be blinded. It is there son that's out there"

Carma had to hold Warner back as Victor walked in with Arma. The two looked around the room in confusion. Probably because they didn't hear the King's words. "Any news?" Vik asked.

"Well your parents have run right into the fighting." Sasha said.

Vik laughed. "What else is new?" everyone stared at him. "What? You all know that it's true."

Many facepalmed. They knew that Vik was right.

"Anyway, has Cetus made any sudden movements?" Arma asked.

"No. We don't know what he's doing." Carolta answered.

"There has to be something that will give away his plan. Cetus can't be some tactical genius." Corwall stated.

"That he isn't." Vik agreed. "His victories stem from his sheer power. Just being in his presence is terrifying. I can still feel the chill that he sent over any room he was in."

Arma's hand landed on his shoulder. "At least you're out of there now."

Vik shook his head. "No. As long as Cetus lives, there is no escaping it."

Everyone one went quiet. How could they argue against Vik? He had lived under Cetus for how long? He would know that dangers better than anyone.

"We still need to do something. Your parents ran right into that shit storm." Warner said, really wanting to go and see some action.

Corwall rolled his eyes. "I thought you were confident in their abilities. Now it seems like you're worried about them."

Warner glared at Corwall. "I really don't know why we ever agreed to help you bastards. All you've done is cause us Raven Tail members grief."

Winoona and Arlinton stared at their son. "That is no way to speak to the King of Fiore." Winoona said.

Warner glowered. "Just go ahead and kiss his ass. Remember, it's his fault that we're in this position in the first place."

Carma tried to pull him back, but failed. She could sense what was coming. Warner's anger was overriding everything else. His weapon mode was about to come through. "Get back!" She made to warn everyone, but they didn't look afraid at all. In fact, some of them looked like they would be willing to challenge Warner. She shook her head. The last thing they needed was bloodshed from their allies. Even if she agreed with her husband.

Corwall laughed and walked forward. "What is he going to do? He's just a scrub under those fools."

With that Warner's eyes shot red and he began to laugh darkly to himself. "So you would like to try me old man?" His voice had changed and he was beyond caring.

The King backed away in fear as the other's came forward to protect him. Warner's laughter filled the room as two guns appeared almost as if they were made from smoke.

"That…that should be impossible…" Arlinton said.

Winoona looked over her son. "He didn't even use requip magic…"

"Warner…" His eyes looked over at his wife. Her worry only seemed to fuel his rage.

He chuckled. "Why not show them the truth?" His eyes looked at the King, who was backed against the wall. "Show your parents, what he made you into…"

Carma stared at the King and then over at the two women that shared her DNA. The fact that they were protecting him did piss her off to no end. "I really can't believe that you're siding with him."

"Why wouldn't we?" Sasha asked.

"Sure, he killed us, but he had his reasons." Carolta said.

"So you enjoyed being burnt to death?!" Carma snapped at them, her own eyes were starting to turn red. Next to her, Corwall fell to the ground in agony. "Just so he could make me do this for him."

Both women looked at her in terror. "Stop that right now!" Sasha ordered.

Warner only laughed. "Why should we? We have no allegiance to you, nor do we have one to Fiore."

"They poisoned you!" The King shouted from the back of the room.

Carma smirked. "Why would you say that? You were the one that want to use us. We're just doing what we were programed to do."

"Arma, do something about this!" The King ordered.

Arma only began to laugh. "Why would I do anything? This is what you deserve."

The King turned pale. Arma's past self was gone, nothing but the killer that was 25 was there. The King looked over at Viktor and saw the same look on his face. "What is all of this?! I will have you tried for treason!"

Vik laughed out loud. "Do you really think that you'll last that long?" The room filled with darkness, it was almost as if they were in a different dimension. "Welcome to the void, My King." The voice of 55 was dipped with sarcasm.

The former agents tried to power up their magic, only to find that they couldn't access it here. "What have you done?!" Winoona turned on him as Corwall let out one final scream.

Carma walked over the old man. "I think he's dead. What do you think, 16?" She looked at her husband.

Warner walked forward and fired a shot into Corwall's head. "If he wasn't before, he is now."

Terror filled the darkness as the screams began to fill the halls. Arlinton dove forward only to find a gun in his chest. "I'm your father! Why aren't you listening to me?!"

Warner chuckled. "My father is dead. He's always been dead. The real question is, who are you?"

Arlinton tried to pull away, but found that he couldn't. "Wha…What are you talking about? I'm Arlinton." The man said confidently.

Carma sneered. "Don't make me laugh. We know what's really going on. We are Raven Tail trained wizards."

Vik frowned at the King. "You really thought that you could fool us so easily? If they were the real thing, why would they be focused on staying here? Why are they, so okay with the fact that you had them massacred?"

Arma walked over to Carolta and stabbed her in the back. Electricity sparked from Carolta as she slumped over. "She's nothing but a droid. They all are."

Warner smirked as he held the gun to Arlinton's chest. "As you can see, you're not my real father. You just believe that you are. You've been programmed to think that you are."

The King was sweating bullets. "I…I can explain."

A shot was fired and the droid that was in front of Warner fell the ground. "It's good to know that my father wasn't really a coward."

Vik smirked. "Any agent wouldn't be." His shadows fell down from the ceiling, covering the other droids in darkness and shattering them to pieces. Leaving the King alone with the rest of them. Vik dissipated his power. "If only Rosa could see this. Hell, if my brother could see this. Bickslow always wanted to see you fall to your knees."

The King looked at him in shock. "You planned this. All of you planned this didn't you!"

Warner chuckled. "You really think that Raven Tail would have just jointed you at the top of a hat? Ivan and Remy planned this the moment they joined up with you."

The King looked up at them in terror. "The thing is, do we want to dispose of you now…or wait until Ivan and Remy can do the honors?" Carma said.

The King looked around for any sign of weakness. There had to be one of them that was sympathetic towards him. His eyes scrambled around the room, he was in no such luck.

"So, Your Majesty, are we going to have to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Vik asked.

* * *

Ivan barely had enough time to move out of the way as Cetus's army came from one side. He had just enough time to bring up a small illusion, but the army just seemed to barrel through it.

Cetus laughed. "Your magic is no match for mine. There's nothing you can do to stop me."

Remy placed a shield up as Laxus shot lightening across the ground and sky. Only for the shield to shatter into pieces in front of them.

"I told you. There is nothing you can do. You lot are nothing but ants." Cetus said, as a couple of his zombies fell to the lightening. "Try as you might. You will become one of them."

"Not if I can help it!" Makarov grew huge and began to push back at the zombie hoard. "You three go after him. I got this."

"Do you, old man?" But Cetus was distracted as a dragon roar came his way, accompanied by something odd. Souls came from some of the zombies, making them fall to the ground. Makarov moved forward and his eyes went to Remy, but Remy still had his shield power up. "I told you to stay out of this!" Cetus yelled, but it didn't look like he was shouting at any of them.

"Like that's going to happen!" Bickslow's voice came from Cetus, but the body didn't look any different.

"This is my body!" Cetus snarled.

"No! You stole it!" Bickslow argued. "Just like you've stole everything else from me!"

"You killed my love!" Cetus growled.

"You separated me from mine!" Bickslow snapped.

Remy looked at Ivan. This was just the distraction they needed. Laxus got the hint and the army of Zombies began to fall to their attacks. Each felt second after the next, as Bickslow made it so they could get rid of the menacing army in front of them.

It was depressing in a way. Each of those bodies, had once been a person. They were still people, but they lacked the thing that made them human now. They lacked a true soul. They were puppets, not much different than the babies that Bickslow had used long ago.

An arm moved down Cetus's side and grabbed at something. "Stop!" Cetus screamed.

But Bickslow laughed as it was thrown to the ground. The sound of glass shattered and from that a small wisp escaped.

"No! You bastard!" Cetus's body became engulfed in darkness. "You let her escape!"

"That was my plan! You can't make her like yourself! Flare will only become a husk that way!" Bickslow scoffed.

"You let my Cassiopeia get away!" Cetus shook in anger.

Bickslow laughed. "Are you even sure that she was really Cassiopeia? She only looked like her. Are you really that fickle that you only checked her looks?"

Cetus stopped. "You're saying that she wasn't…"

Suddenly, Cetus and Bickslow disappeared and the army fell to the ground.

Remy looked over at Ivan. "What was that all about?"

Ivan shrugged. "I don't know, but the boy did do us a solid."

Laxus shook his head. "Please don't say that ever again."

Ivan gave Laxus a funny look. "But that's what all the hip kids are saying."

"And you're not a child." Laxus sighed.

"Are you sure about that?" Remy teased.

Ivan shot him a glare. "You think that your cute."

Remy rolled his eyes as Makarov came over to them. "So if Flare isn't Cassiopeia, then who is?" The old man asked.

Remy shrugged. "Who knows?"

"It will buy us some time though. Let's head back to the palace." Ivan said. "Something interesting is developing, I'm sure."

"You're sure?" Laxus said in confusion.

Remy chuckled. "That bastard really thought that he had us fooled."

"Fooled about what?" Laxus asked.

Makarov laughed this time. "So I wasn't the only one to notice it."

Ivan nodded. "Most of the King's followers, mainly the old spies, are nothing but fakes."

"How is that possible?" Laxus said, looking at all three of them.

"It was simple really. Arlinton would never let himself be controlled by anyone." Remy stated and Ivan nodded.

Laxus turned to his grandfather. "What about you?"

Makarov grinned. "I didn't spend all of that time looking for Sasha's letters for nothing. Her letters painted a much different person than the fake was portraying."

Laxus couldn't help but feel bashful. He fell for that entire thing. "Don't worry too much about it, Son. You didn't know anything about them. There was no way for you to truly see the fakes for what they were."

"Come on, we need to meet up with the others. Finally, we will have all of our revenge." Remy stated.

"Then we can move on to freeing Bickslow, if the boy hasn't done it already." Makarov said. "He seems to be fighting it now."

"He was fighting it before, but I think that Cetus just over powered him." Ivan said.

"Any case, let's get going." Laxus said.

They all nodded and grabbed on to Remy, going back to the council in seconds.

* * *

Ziph looked down at Xenia. It was weird. She still looked so worried about everything, but he wasn't sure why that was. She was just being very clingy to him. "It's okay if you let go."

She shook her head. "No, it's fine."

Ziph sighed. "Okay…"

They walked into the dining room and Ziph couldn't help but notice how broken everything was. Had it always been like this?

His mind flashed to a different time. The room looked nothing like this. Hell, he wasn't sure that it was even the same room. Everything looked pristine. He turned his head and Cassiopeia was beside him. Everything was fine.

But she looked so sad. "What's on your mind?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it."

"But how can I not?" He said, brushing hair away from her eyes. "It's unbecoming of you."

"Then I guess you're going to have to live with that." She stated.

He grinned. "You never change, do you?"

She made to smile, but turned her head away quickly. He wondered what she was looking at in horror. Blinking a couple of times at the spot she was staring at was, the room began to darken.

Ziph froze as he came face to face with his father.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

As you can tell, we are reaching the end of our story. I wish I could have spent more time on this and gotten it out fast to all of you. It's just been hard with school. Most of my other stories are all prewritten, so they can just be posted from week to week.


	43. Chapter 43

"Father, I didn't think you would be back so soon." Ziph began, but his father silenced him.

"What do you think you are doing? I thought that you were out looking for a container for your mother and this is what you decided to do instead. You really are a shameful child." Cetus said to him. Cetus's gaze went to his son's companion, but as he looked over her, he couldn't help but feel like he had seen her before. The powder puff came to mind. Bickslows beloved Lisanna. This girl looked like her, but she was far too young to be Lisanna. This had to be… Cetus began to laugh. "Xenia, I presume."

She backed away, even though Ziph held her against him. "How do you know my name?"

This was rich. "Oh my, I didn't think I would get a chance like this. For something this…perfect to drop into my lap, I must have the luck of a god."

Xenia felt chills continue to go down her spine. The rooms temperature felt like it had drop significantly and her breaths were making steam in the cold. Ziph pulled her tighter against him. "Father, what are you talking about?"

Cetus's eyes looked demented. "Ziph, be a good boy and hand over the girl."

Ziph backed away. "Father are you mad?" He knew that his father was insane, but this wasn't like him. Something was wrong and Ziph knew it.

Cetus became stern. "I won't ask you again, boy. Hand over the girl!"

Xenia looked at Ziph, but the boy didn't look away from his father. "Ziph, just do what he says." She didn't want him to get hurt.

But Ziph wasn't listening to her. "Where is mother at?" As he looked around, he could no longer see the container that his father had placed her in.

"That isn't important, Ziph. She was an imposter anyway." Cetus growled. "Pretending that she was my precious soul was a waste of my time."

Ziph backed up. "But you loved mom. She was your everything."

"She was a lying whore!" Cetus snapped. "So of course, she would product a lying son as well. You've been nothing but a distraction from the beginning." Cetus's magic filled the room. "So I guess that means that you will share her fate."

Ziph grabbed his throat. It felt like all of his lungs were being crushed inside of him. The pain was unbearable.

"No!" Xenia screamed as she panicked. Her eyes began to flash a series of different colors in a futile attempt to save him.

"Give up, girly." Cetus said with a chuckle. "You will follow him soon enough."

Xenia turned back to stare at the demon, only to find that Cetus looked less human than before. As each second went by, he was becoming more like a monster in appearance. "You can't kill him! If you do, you'll die!" She shouted at the demon.

Cetus froze in place. "What do you mean, child? Speak!"

Xenia glared at him. "Your life is connected to his. He's the real Cepheus!"

Cetus laughed. "And how would you know that?"

"Because I'm the real Cassiopeia!"

* * *

They all walked into a room in the council building. The King was tied up and Remy couldn't help but feel relief as he looked down at him. "Finally, you will die for your crimes."

"What about the demon, huh? Are you just going to stay here and let it destroy everything?!" The King snapped.

Ivan chuckled. "We will take care of it, but first you will reveal everything."

"I will do no such thing!" The King growled. "You're going to kill me anyway."

"Who said anything about killing?" Remy said. "I think there's been enough of that. The people deserve the truth. Its time they got it."

"And it would be better if they received it from the horse's mouth." Ivan stated.

"If you won't talk. We'll make you." Vik said.

The King looked down. "And what makes you think that they will believe me. Once they discover that you are involved, they'll consider it false."

"Not if we show them the evidence as well." Arma said, holding up what looked like a small drive. "All of the documents over the last 50 years, are in here."

The King paled. "I don't have any other options, do I?"

Makarov shook his head. "No, you don't."

"I would take their offer; they're being quite generous." Laxus stated, crossing his arms.

"More than I would like, but that's that." Warner chimed in.

"I'll be ruined." The King said.

"You already are, so why not give your daughter a better chance than you did. Tell them the truth, then step down. Give the crown to the proper ruler." Remy said.

The King sighed. "Fine. I will do it. But first you need to get rid of that demon."

Remy smirked and turned back over to Ivan. "Who wants to go?" Ivan gave Remy a nod, as did Vik, Warner, and Laxus.

"The rest of us will stay here and keep an eye on everything. "Makarov said. "You guys bring Bickslow back."

They all grabbed on to Remy and disappeared from site, leaving them alone with the King.

The door busted open and they prepared to fight, but it was only Lisanna and Mira. "What's going on?" Lisanna asked.

"No one's told us anything in a while." Mira looked down to find the King tied up.

"Everything's going to be fine." Makarov said. "We just have to trust them."

* * *

Remy and the other's landed right outside of the palace. "His shield really is down."

Vik nodded. "Let's get in there. He has to be somewhere."

Ivan turned to Vik. "Lead the way."

Vik gave them a nod again and they made to follow. As soon as they were inside, they heard Cetus's voice booming in the halls. "What did you say?!"

"You heard me!" Remy froze. He knew that voice. But why was Xenia here?

Upon hearing it, they had all burst into a run. "Don't try me girly. I can tell if you're lying."

"Then you know I'm right then." Xenia said.

Cetus sounded like he was walking around. "I cannot deny nor can I confirm your words. But I must as how you obtained this information."

"The old hag told me everything." Xenia answered.

"What old hag?" A strange voice asked as it coughed.

"So she's showed her face. I wondered when she would show up." Cetus chuckled. "If that's the case, then I will spare that boy's life."

"He's your son!" Xenia snapped at Cetus.

"I have no son. I've never had a son." Cetus roared.

"What about Perseus?" Vik said coming out of the darkness first. "He was your son, wasn't he?"

"That boy was nothing but trouble from his birth on. Just like Ziph here." Cetus said glaring at the intruders.

"But Perseus belonged to your precious Cassiopeia." Vik said angrily.

"No child of mine was ever grateful to me. Perseus may have been all high and mighty, but he was still a mortal. A disgusting mortal." Cetus snapped.

"Then you've only wanted her soul. You don't love her at all. You just wanted to collect her like some plaything!" Vik said angrily.

Cetus laughed darkly. "What are you talking about Vik? I already have collected her. She's mine." Through the darkness, the demon latched onto Xenia and pulled her against him. "Isn't fate a cruel thing?"

Remy, Ivan, and Laxus were in shock. How as that possible?

BANG! They whole room turned to find Ziph standing there with what looked like a fire poker in his head. On that end, Xenia could see it, the outline of a butterfly. "Ziph NO!"

"It's the only way!" Ziph shook his head. "I can't watch this anymore. I've done too much damage."

"Think about what you're doing boy!" Cetus snapped. But as Ziph made to move the poker into his chest, it was stopped by Cetus's shield. "Did you think it's going to be that easy?"

Vik suddenly realized everything. "Cepheus's soul is in that boy."

Ivan and Remy turned to look at their son. That meant that Ziph had to die to get rid of Cetus.

"We have to help him." Laxus said surprising them all. "The boy knows what has to be done. It would be a crime to not follow his wishes."

"Laxus is right." Warner said, letting his eyes change. "Let's give the boy a proper send off."

Ivan didn't like this and from the look of if Xenia didn't want this to happen, but he couldn't deny the boy what he wanted either.

Cetus laughed. "Like any of you are going to get a chance to do that!"

The shields appeared around them and soldiers began to spring from the ground.

Vik sighed, allowing himself to fall into that darkness. He would let Perseus out. That's all he could do for now.

Dragon roars and bullets began to fly through the air knocking down the fake soldiers. Shields around him burst and were rebuilt as if they were nothing.

Perseus only walked forward and soon found himself looking down at the boy with the red hair. "Are you really in their father?"

Ziph's eyes changed, a sad smile appeared on his face. "I just keep running into cages, Perce."

Perseus shook. "You really want me to kill you?"

"I'm ready to die, son. I've been ready for far too long." Cepheus's eyes turned to Xenia. "Your mother will release her the moment I die. The girl will live and I can finally be with Cassie again."

Perseus smiled sadly down at his father. "Of course, you have to look like this when I have to kill you."

"That's just how things are. You're stronger than that though." Cepheus said. "Please let me go now. I've cause enough grief."

"What is he then?" Perseus asked.

Cepheus sighed. "My greed, my lust, the wrath within me, he's is everything that I feared and more."

Perseus nodded. "This will kill me too, won't it."

"We don't belong in this time. It's time that these people had their lives back." Cepheus said.

Around them, Xenia shook as she watched the conversation. Cetus was far too busy as her grandfather's kept his attention. She watched as shield after shield was broken, all the while, she worried about Ziph.

"I love you, father." Perseus said, grabbing the poker and pushing it deeply into the body below him. Ziph didn't even scream, he just spit up blood.

Vik froze as his body went cold. Perseus had vanished. He tried to call the darkside of himself, but it was gone.

Cetus let go of Xenia as he felt to his knees. He grabbed a hold of his head and began to scream in agony. His soldiers turned to dust and everything around them disappeared, including the building.

"Ziph!" Xenia leaned down and tried to get the boy to say something.

He only smiled up at her. "You're still just as pretty as ever, Xenia. You know that?"

She shook her head. "Don't talk like a crazy person…" Tears fell from her eyes as she looked down at him.

"I was glad that I met you." Ziph took the last of his energy and leaned up and kissed her check. "Live."

His body disappeared from under her hands and Xenia froze completely as she began to sob. Ziph was gone. He was dead. There wasn't even a body left.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at her uncle. "It's what he wanted. He's finally free, Xenia."

Tears filled her eyes. "But…"

"He was a prisoner in his own body. There was nothing else that could have been done." Vik said, he offered her his hand. "He wants you to live. Do that for him."

Xenia took her Uncle's hand and turned as she heard an awful coughing sound. Cetus was no longer there, but another man was hacking up something nasty.

She walked forward as a massive plug of black mucus hit the ground and the man made to stand up. "What is this place?"

"Papa?" She said looking at the man's back.

Bickslow turned and stared at the young woman in front of him. She looked like his Lisanna…but she had his eyes. An image of a small baby entered his mind and he covered his mouth. "Xenia…" He looked around to find that everyone around him had aged. "How much time has passed?"

Xenia launched herself forward into her father's arms and in seconds, Bickslow was tackled to the ground. He tried to turn his head, but he found one parent there, he turned his head to the other side to find a brother.

Bickslow tried to think, but no one answered him. Cetus was gone. "Did I die?" He asked.

"It was like you were dead, dumbass!" Ivan said with a smile on his face.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Remy chastised him.

Bickslow pinched himself. "I'm free?" He looked down at his hands. He never thought that he would ever have his body to himself again. He was alive.

"Looks like it." Laxus said, smacking him on the back.

Vik chuckled. "How does it feel?"

Bickslow stared at his younger brother. "You got a lot taller."

"Well it's been 15 years." Remy said. "It's to be expected."

15 years… Cetus took 15 years of his life away. He looked over at his daughter. He had missed everything. Bickslow looked around. "Where's Lisanna?"

Xenia perked up as she heard her mother's name. "She's fine."

Bickslow sighed in relief. "She's going to smack me, I'm sure of it."

Laxus laughed. "You're right about that."

"Why don't we go home?" Remy said. "I think we've all seen enough of this place for a life time."

Bickslow nodded. He still felt out of it. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he could use his magic anymore, so he grabbed onto his father. He didn't know where they were going anyway.

They appeared in a strange room. He looked over and found the King of Fiore tied up. Master Makarov was next to the King. The Old Man smiled. "Welcome back."

Bickslow heard a voice just outside of the door. "When do you think they'll be back?" Her voice pierced him. It had been so long.

Bickslow moved away from the group and towards the door as it opened. The moment his eyes fell upon her; it was almost as if he was falling in love again.

"Bickslow…" She stared at him in disbelief. She had to be dreaming. Tears started to fall from her eyes. "Is it really you?"

He smiled. "I'm sorry I took so long, Liz."

She was moving. She didn't know when or how, but she was running right towards him. Her arms looped around his neck as she pulled him down into a kiss, but unlike all of her dreams, he was warm as he wrapped his arms around her. He was real. "It really is you."

"Yeah, it's me." Bickslow couldn't think of anything else. All he could do was look at the woman he loved. "I missed you, Liz"

"I missed you too." She said, not daring to remove herself from him.

Xenia giggled. She had never seen her mother look so happy before. Maybe things were going to work out now. Finally, they could all be one happy family.

To Be Continued…

 _Author's Note_

 _The next chapter will be the last one. Thanks for reading and putting up with me._


	44. Chapter 44

2 months later

Life was a strange thing. Bickslow never thought that he would be excepted back so easily, but his family hadn't blame him for the horrors that Cetus had done.

The best thing had been being with his love again. He had missed Lisanna. Now they could spend the rest of their lives together. From what he heard, she had fallen apart without him. He would never leave her side again.

After Cetus had left, Bickslow made a discovery. His magic was gone. It had Cetus must have ripped it from him when he died. It was a small cost to pay for his freedom and he wouldn't trade anything to get it back.

Today was the final day before the execution. The former king of Fiore had been charged for his crimes and was going to be put to death. He had watch the trails closely, but found that he didn't really know what he wanted the outcome to be anymore. He was tired of seeing death. After being locked away inside a murder, there was no way he could ever go back to thinking that everything was so simple.

His parents sat there next to him in the guild. They looked at ease as the bar in Fairy Tail grew loud. Everyone was ribbing his brother Vik for his stream of affairs. If he thought it was confusing before, now Vik had a daughter with a dead woman, two boyfriends that were trying to get him back, and a new wife. Arma didn't seem to mind having Edvin and Kitt around. She actually welcomed them.

Bickslow had to roll his eyes at them. Edvin was playing with Lily while Rosa Arma held her belly, they were hoping that it was a boy so they could name him,Perseus. He was already told the story about the man with the same name. It was really confusing. He was still trying to wrap his head around it all. If it hadn't happened to him, he probably wouldn't believe it.

Bickslow looked away from the group. He wondered how Warner was doing? The gun slinger was busy these days. Warner had taken more responsibility with Lamia Scale. Babasama kept him and Gunner close, even though Gunner came by a lot more than he thought. At first, he didn't like it, but he came around after he figured that Xenia needed it.

She kept to herself these days, but that didn't stop her from training. She had focused on becoming a strong mage. He could respect that. She even promised to stay away from demons, even if that would never be something that she could see. She was a shielder after all.

Lisanna came over and put her head on his shoulder. He leaned his head against hers. He couldn't stop reviling in how warm everything was. After almost 2 decades in eternal cold, he welcomed it with welcome arms.

Mira was chasing Laxus around the guild with a with their son. Maky was leading his group around the same way Laxus had lead them around. Xenia paid them no mind though. Bickslow could see that she had other things on her mind.

Xenia had never forgotten Ziph. Even after the boy disappeared from existence, she still thought of him every day. The boy had sacrificed himself to save everyone. If he wasn't the soul of Cepheus, then he probably would have made a good son-in-law. But that was in the past. There was nothing that could be done.

Bickslow was pulled from his thoughts as Xenia sat across from him. She looked at him quietly, then back over at the bar. She smiled. It was the first time he had seen it sense he came back. "What's on your mind, baby girl?"

She gave him a smile. "How do you feel about giving me away?"

He froze. "You…?"

"Gunner asked, I said yes." Bickslow couldn't believe it.

"But I thought…"

"He told me to live. I'm going to keep my promise." She said. "I can't just stay like this. I have to move on."

Bickslow nodded as he noted the sad look on her face. "Are you sure that this is what you want?"

She gave him a smile. "I do love him, Daddy."

"Just not as much as Ziph though." Bickslow said.

She looked away from him. "Ziph is gone."

"You're too young to get married though." Bickslow said. "You're making me feel old."

She giggled. "Well get used to it grandpa."

Bickslow stared at her. "What?"

She turned red. "Forget I said anything."

"Did Gunner knock you up, is this why…?!" He said angrily.

"No, Papa, you have it all wrong. It's not Gunner's." She said looking up at him.

Bickslow froze. It was Ziph's child. When had Ziph touched her? Bickslow didn't want to know, but at the same time cursed the boy that had laid a hand on her. "Then why are you and Gunner…?"

"Gunner wants to adopt the baby. We decided to move on, together. Just like Grandma Anastasia did with Grandpa Norman." She explained.

Bickslow sighed. There was no changing her mind. "Just make sure that you get married before it's born."

She rolled her eyes. "Papa."

He smiled at her. "Fine, call me old fashioned."

Xenia giggled as she looked down at herself. "Do you think he'll have the soul of a raven?"

Bickslow laughed. "We all do, Xenia. We all do."

The End.

Author's Note

It's finally done. I'm sorry that it isn't as good as it should be. I ended up getting depressed while righting this and then I lost interest in the project and I know it shows, but I promised that I would finish every single one of my stories and I just couldn't let it sit there. I do hope that you enjoyed it. As for me, I'm taking a break from writing Fairy Tail stories in general. Part of it comes from how I feel about the current state of the manga, which I'm also losing interest in.

I do wish that this was better. Window to the Soul had so much love in it and I feel that Raven's Soul fell flat. I really had no direction when I started this, which is different from how I work my newer stories for Dragonball.


End file.
